We have made a jump-start to the week with a busy economic agenda. This morning, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced the Economic Confidence Index for November. The index dropped by 2.0% from 101.4 to 99.0 in November, compared to the previous month.
TurkStat also released Foreign Trade Indices for October today. Turkey’s exports rose by 20.1% to USD 20.7bn and imports increased by 12.8% to USD 22.2bn in October, compared to the same month of the previous year.
The third-quarter growth data for our economy will be announced on Tuesday morning. We will likely see a good growth rate. However, it’s worthy to remind that this data is from the July-August-September period, that is, before the more dramatic fluctuations in the market began. Growth is the indicator that our economy managers attach the most importance to. Turkey is one of the countries that achieved the most impressive growth both during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the recovery process. However, some decisions made in this process paved the way for economic fragility and market sensitivity to potential shocks. The extreme volatility we are currently seeing is also one of the outcomes of these pandemic-era choices, and we have not yet begun to see the effect of this volatility on growth.
The PMI data to be announced by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) on Wednesday morning is one of the indicators that will demonstrate this effect. The index, which fell to 51.2 in October, indicates slower growth in industry compared to previous months, though it remains above the 50 thresholds.
On the other hand, the Minimum Wage Determination Commission will hold its first meeting on Wednesday to determine the minimum wage to be effective from January 1, 2022. Millions of employees and employers will focus on this meeting.
On Friday morning, we will end the week with the release of inflation data. We do not yet know to what extent price jumps in November will be reflected in the data. However, we will continue to see price updates, driven by the increase in exchange rate, in all sectors in the coming weeks. In the latest data from October, CPI increased to 19.89% and D-PPI to 46.31%. However, the assumption that there was no increase in automobile sales due to low sales caused criticism.
DAILY AGENDA
The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) will release the banking sector report for the January-October period (2.00 pm). The sector’s profit amounted to TRY 56.98bn in the first nine months of the year.
IN OUR MAGAZINE THIS WEEK
>> On the cover: Philip Morris Sabanci General Manager Filiz Yavuz Diren is on our cover this week to tell you about the company’s digitalization journey, which excites her more than anything. The company is transforming from a traditional fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company into a data and technology company, according to her. “We will continue to invest in digitalization in 2022,” she says. You can read the details on pages 14-15.
>> TOGG, Turkey’s Automotive Joint Venture Group Inc., was established to produce the “national vehicle” is at full steam. The company has pivoted its focus to electric vehicles under the management of Gurcan Karakas, CEO. Turkish consumers tend to heavily use technology and rapidly adapt to new technologies, he said, TOGG has planned its journey based on this. You can read the details of the journey in our Q&A piece on pages 10-11.
>> Professor Ilter Turan: Revitalizing relations with Middle Eastern countries will not be easy. P. 12.
>> Startup: Kron eyes top five in the global Privileged Access Management market
P. 16.
>> Tourism: Turkey is the Mediterranean’s fastest-growing country in arrivals. P. 18.
>> Zeynep Gurcanli: The price… P. 19.
>> Energy: Cengiz Enerji prepares to build the first triple hybrid power plant. You can read the details on page 22.
