Finance minister says Turkey exempt from global financial crisis

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Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said that Turkey is a unique case in the world where a financial crisis didn't emerge in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and that anyone who expected otherwise was "wrecked."

"Turkey has been a positive outlier in all measures of economic success during the normalization process. Those who have been expecting and investing in a financial crisis since August 2018 have been wrecked," Albayrak said.

Turkey will emerge triumphant from the normalization process and continue to develop its "exports, employment and value-added goods infrastructure, the minister said at a government building's opening on July 8.

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The minister also noted that the International Money Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have predicted an eight to 10 percent shrink in global markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that employment and production have suffered, maintaining this wasn't the case in Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported a 20 percent drop on Turkey's exports between January and May and that the foreign trade deficit had reached $21.5 billion.

Turkey was also rated the worst in youth unemployment and access to education among member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Meanwhile, the latest official employment data from the government-run TÜİK was criticized for being inconsistent, as the numbers showed a rise in both unemployment and employment numbers.

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Turkey's exports fall by 20 pct, foreign trade deficit doubles since January