Timothy Ash

The İzmir Metropolitan Municipality will organize an international economy meeting next month, which is dedicated to Türkiye's first economy congress held in İzmir a century ago.

"The Economy Congress of the Second Century will convene between Feb. 15 and 21, and the roadmap of the new century's economy will be shared with the nation," İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer said on Jan. 19.

Turkey’s monthly consumer confidence index dropped slightly in December, reaching the lowest this year, according to official data released on Dec. 21.

Turkey's annual inflation rate stood at 10.68 percent in August, revisiting double digits, with price hikes in cars, oil and LPG becoming the driving force, according to figures by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) released on Sept. 5. 

Turkey's monthly inflation rose 0.15 percent in July over the previous month but annual inflation dropped to 9.79 percent, its lowest level in six months, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) stated on Aug. 3.

Consumer price inflation fell by 1.1 points, down from 10.9 percent in June, according to TÜİK.

So far this year more than 170 bodies have washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean while the Libyan Coast Guard has also rescued thousands more.

IOM has helped repatriate 1,500 people back to West Africa so far this year where it is trying to inform people not to risk the journey to Libya where they face exploitation.

Turkey's economy grew a faster-than-expected 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, mainly due to a significant rise in consumption, data showed on March 31, bouncing back after last July's coup attempt and underpinning hopes of a recovery less than three weeks ahead of a referendum. 

Turkey should focus on making economic reforms and promoting its strengths rather than blaming credit rating agencies for unfair rates, Timothy Ash, a London-based strategist at Nomura International, said on Oct. 4.

Turkey's Central Bank has taken a number of measures to defend the Turkish Lira, but did little to recover it off record lows, outweighed by a globally strong U.S. dollar and concerns about political actors' intervention in economic policy.

The Turkish Lira, one of the worst performers earlier this year due to concern that the FED would end its tapering program that had boosted emerging markets, has seen another tumble after a weekend raid by police on media outlets.

The currency has weakened 0.8 percent to 2.317 to the dollar, which is its weakest since January when it hit an all-time low of 2.39.