ANKARA: Turkish exports increased by almost 5 percent as it stood at $11.95 billion in November compared to $11.38 billion in the same period last year, the country’s main exporters association said yesterday. A report released by the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) revealed that exports in November rose by 4.6 percent. This figure had declined to $11.7 billion in October from last year’s $12.4 billion in the same month last year, slipping by 4.6 percent.
The report, however, showed total exports in the first 11 months of the year went down by 2.4 percent compared to the same period last year, hitting $129 billion. “We will see our export growth, which turned positive in November, to keep surging as a decline in commodity and oil prices came to an end and exports to neighboring countries, especially Russia, start to recover,” head of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly, Mehmet Büyükekşi said. With regards to the possible impact of the sharp depreciation seen in the Turkish lira, Büyükekşi said although a cheap lira is positive for competitiveness of Turkish goods in markets, the predictability of the lira’s value is equally important.
Underscoring that the spike in the foreign currencies against Turkish lira has increased the competitiveness in exports, Büyükekşi said, “The more important issue for us, over the lira’s value, is its predictability.” “Our manufacturers and exporters suffer due to sharp volatility in foreign exchange rates. In this regard, we appreciate the measures introduced by the government. We believe that speculative pressures on the Turkish lira will come to an end in the period to come,” he said.
The Central Bank of Turkey last Thursday hiked its policy rate by 50 basis points to 8 percent from 7.5 percent and the overnight lending rate to 8.5 percent from 8.25 percent in a bid to restrain sharp volatility in the Turkish lira. Government officials also revealed plans to encourage the use of the lira in public procurements and tenders, which are expected to significantly reduce demand for foreign exchange currencies.
