Erdoğan hails country's economic performance during pandemic

The Turkish president on Monday hailed the country's economic performance during the pandemic, while "the economies across the world were shaken."

"In such a difficult period, Turkey has been extremely successful in combating the adverse effects of the pandemic.

"In 2020, when the economies were deeply shaken, we (Turkey) recorded a growth of 1.8% and became one of the few countries among the OECD and G-20 countries to achieve this," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said following a three-hour Cabinet meeting at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.

Turkey has adopted resolute and effective policies that played a great role in supporting the economic growth, noted Erdoğan, saying the country's economy continued to grow despite all internal and external challenges.

"The strong growth continued in the first half of this year. We reached an annual growth rate of 7.2% in the first quarter and 21.7% in the second quarter of the year. By achieving this, Turkey ranked second globally after the UK in terms of economic growth in the second quarter," Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan also said the country's GDP will exceed $850 billion in 2022, before hitting $975 billion in 2023 and topping $1 trillion in 2024 as was stated in the country's medium-term economic program published in the Official Gazette late on Sunday.

The government is aiming for a growth of 5.5% in 2023 and 2024, according to the three-year program, while the average GDP growth rate target is set as 5.3%.

The country's exports target is $230.9 billion by 2022 and $255 billion by 2024.

At the end of the meeting, Erdoğan once again urged citizens to get the COVID-19 vaccine and comply with pandemic measures, including social distancing, hygiene rules, and wearing masks.