Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu presented a programme on Thursday to boost the Turkish economy, including reducing its dependence on imports and boosting domestic energy resources, as growth continues to lag below target. Turkey last month slashed its growth estimates to 3.3 percent this year and 4 percent in 2015 from 4 and 5 percent respectively, citing unfavourable conditions in the global economy.
"We will continue to follow a very decisive policy in the period ahead to integrate the economy with the global economy," Davutoglu told a news conference to announce the measures. They include programmes to reduce dependence on imports, develop technology and domestic energy resources, boost energy productivity and expand the health and tourism sectors.
Macro-economic measures were to be announced later. Davutoglu said Turkey aimed to raise its gross domestic product to $1.3 trillion by 2018 from $820 billion last year. By the same year, it also targeted a current account deficit of 5.2 percent of GDP, compared with around 7 percent last year, and 7 percent unemployment versus nearly 10 percent now.