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Turkey downsizes economic growth outlook as crisis bites

Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has unveiled a much anticipated plan to rescue Turkey from its economic woes, pledging to adhere to stricter fiscal policy and focus on financial stability.
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak is pictured before an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey September 2, 2018.Picture taken September 2, 2018.  REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1137FA4650

Turkey expects economic growth to slow sharply in the next three years as the government cuts spending and combats inflation, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Thursday, seeking to shore up the $800 billion economy amid a crisis that crashed the lira and hit banks and corporate balance sheets hard.

Albayrak revealed the government’s revised expectations in a medium-term economic program (MTP) that covers the period until 2021. The presentation had been widely anticipated by rattled investors as a prescription for recovery in yet another test for the neophyte finance minister, who was named to the post by his father-in-law, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on July 9.

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