Turkey's big slowdown not yet felt on the street
For months, economists have been predicting that Turkey鈥檚 rapid growth will stall in 2014. Yet while there are ominous signs of a decline, for now, the predicted slowdown looms at a distance: dampening moods but not much else.
鈥淭he economic slowdown hasn鈥檛 really materialized on the street quite yet, so there isn鈥檛 a huge level of alarm,鈥� explains our correspondent in Istanbul. 鈥淭hat may change as the economic slowdown makes itself felt 鈥� 2 percent gross domestic product growth is predicted this year. When unemployment starts rising, you could see higher levels of social unrest.鈥�
Turkey鈥檚 young, developing economy needs an estimated growth to absorb new entrants to the job market. In 2010 and 2011, it was well above that level, expanding by 9.2 and then 8.8 percent, respectively. 2014鈥瞫 growth is likely to be significantly below the 5 percent threshold.
One indication of brewing trouble has been the lira-to-dollar exchange rate.... For the rest of the story, continue reading at our new business publication聽
