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"According to Turkish economists, Turkey is still very attractive destination for international investors but needs to continue pushing through structural reforms and should slow growth in order to build upon the prosperity gained over the last decade.
During the last 10 years the government has made significant progress through its democratic, free-market reform policies, increasing GDP and bringing debt levels down, turning the country into a true capitalist economy. However there are worries over unsustainable growth which is partially being led by high consumer spending, and the current account deficit still remains high.
This current account deficit is partly due to Turkey's massive growth during the last few years which was more than 10% during the first six months of this year, in spite of weaknesses in the global economy. The trouble is this growth has led to increased demand for foreign imports, especially energy and intermediary products used by the manufacturing sector.
Economists think the emphasis should be more on investing in the country domestically, and that the monetary policy should be tightened. In spite of this Turkey still offers investors considerable returns as it is still an emerging market, albeit one with low risks.
Last year saw foreign direct investment of $9.1 billion, and although this is a considerable reduction on the previous highs of $20 billion received annually between 2006 and 2008, FDI is a reflection on global liquidity. Experts generally believe the medium-term economic picture for Turkey is positive, and predict annual growth of between 4% and 5% during the next five years which is considerably higher than predictions for both the US and the Eurozone.
