Turkey faces alarming increase in public debt
Turkey’s public debt has swelled more than 40% over a year, adding to economic risks despite a relative recovery in the second half of 2020.
Turkey’s crisis-hit economy ducked a major contraction in 2020 thanks to a lavish loan stimulus that spurred a relative recovery in the second half of the year. The reversal, however, did not come without a price. Official figures show an alarming increase in the public debt burden despite the celebratory air in Ankara.
The COVID-19 pandemic undermined the economies and public finances of countries around the world last year, but Turkey’s economy was already fragile and its public deficits were already on the rise when the coronavirus arrived.
