By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish economy registered growth of 6.7% in 2020's third quarter despite the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to data the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) released Monday.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices stood at 1.4 trillion Turkish liras ($197.4 billion) in July-September, TurkStat said.
This figure was well above market expectations as a panel of 17 economists surveyed by Anadolu Agency on Thursday had estimated the Turkish economy would expand by 5% in the same period.
They also predicted that Turkey's annual GDP in 2020 would grow by 0.3% on average, but the surprising figure will likely move estimations up for the year's end.
The current new economic program in place also expected the Turkish economy to grow 0.3% this year. The economy is projected to expand by 5.8% in 2021 after deferred consumption and investments are put into use and tourism revenues normalize.
GDP targets in the program are $702 billion for 2020 and $735 billion for the next year.
The country's GDP expanded 4.5% in the first quarter of 2020 and narrowed by 9.9% in the second due to the pandemic's effects on the economy.