Chairman’s Message
As always, exports will remain as the top priority for our country’s development and growth.
the top priority
Stepping into 2020, the world was just outstripping trade wars and Brexit, two major events that negatively affected global trade in previous years. However, the emergence of the pandemic left us confronted with a new environment of uncertainty. The world trade shrank rapidly from the second quarter of the year due to the ramifications of the pandemic. As the world was handed a deteriorated global supply chain and a rapid downturn of growth, all countries began introducing expansionary measures in their monetary and fiscal policies, within the frame of which we witnessed rate cuts by all world economies. Although unlimited asset purchases by central banks led to excessive liquidity in the worldwide marketplace on another front, deteriorated risk perception and uncertainties kept the liquidity from being channeled to impact sectors and regions that would drive recovery.
In the last quarter of the year, we saw global growth estimations revised upwards owing to the positive ambience created by the successful results of vaccination. In this last quarter, the shrinkage improved from 6% to 4%. Even the subsequent second wave anticipations did not lead to a shrinkage of a magnitude of the initial one. In terms of global trade, we can suggest that the worst is over.
Our country began experiencing the impacts of the pandemic with the restrictions initiated in March 2020. In connection with the restrictions, our exports declined significantly in April and May. The 4.5% growth rate we attained in the first quarter was reversed to the negative zone in the second quarter, resulting in 10% contraction of our economy. However, with the normalization steps initiated all over the world in May and June, coupled with the postponed demand that kicked in, we captured a strong positive momentum both in our economy and in our exports in the third quarter. Our country ranked among the fastest-recovering economies in the world with a 6.7% growth rate in the third quarter, enabled by the measures adopted for the business world along with the health-related measures. In the light of lead indicators, I am of the opinion that we will register positive growth for the whole year. 2020 year-end exports figure that was realized at USD 169.5 billion that surpassed the New Economy Program (NEP) exports target of USD 165.9 billion substantiates that.
Despite the pandemic-induced downsizing of global trade and significant contraction of our major export markets led by the European Union, our country maintained its share within world trade and achieved important results thanks to its endeavors spent amid such negative circumstances and the successful strategies devised. This is best exemplified by the post-Brexit free trade deal signed with the UK, one of our leading export markets, which safeguarded our advantageous trade.
With the help of the steps it has taken to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic, Turk Eximbank increased its total support volume by 4% as compared with the previous year, by extending cash loans worth USD 28.5 billion and insurance support worth USD 17.1 billion adding up to USD 45.6 billion in 2020.
As always, exports will remain as the top priority for our country’s development and growth through this patch. We acknowledge the importance our industrialists, exporters, manufacturers and SMEs have for our country’s development with the quick steps they will take and innovative approaches they will adopt in the face of global developments, and we will continue and further increase our efforts to support them.
With this understanding, Turk Eximbank will keep standing by our exporters also in 2021 with the strength it draws from our state and the support of our government, and will bring its total support volume above USD 50 billion.
Rıza Tuna TURAGAY
Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors
