Turkey

THE COMPANY: Domestic demand for white goods correlates with GDP. In times of economic expansion, white goods demand growth outpaces GDP growth, whereas the decline in sales exceeds the decline in GDP at times of economic contraction. From 2003-10 the average multiplier of domestic white goods demand...

One major success story in recent years has been the rapid rise in bilateral trade between Turkey and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Indeed, Turkey enjoys trade surpluses with all the GCC states except Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with energy imports accounting for the deficits there. With the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, Turkish...

The downside to the growth in retail lending in Turkey in 2010 and 2011 was a rapid increase in the current account deficit as consumers took advantage of greater access to credit to purchase imported products that were previously out of reach financially. At the same time, the lira, buoyed by strong capital inflows, strengthened, making imports...

In the last decade, Turkey’s lenders invested heavily in developing alternative banking practices, starting with ATMs and recently expanding to internet and mobile platforms. Moving transactions out of the branches actually increased contact between banks and their customers, who now have nearly constant access to their accounts. This has helped...

Undergoing a major transformation over the past decade, the Turkish economy is now the world’s 15th largest and the sixth largest in Europe, according to 2011 World Bank figures for GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP). The country has an estimated population of 74.7m, giving it the second-largest internal market in Europe, after Germany. Bordering...