As the Turkish government puts in place a series of policies and incentives aimed at boosting foreign direct investment (FDI), considered a way out of turbulence in the economy, the amount of outward direct investment (ODI) reached $3.6 billion in 2018, representing a one-third increase over the previous year.
The data was provided in the January 2019 edition of a report released on Monday by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) titled “Developments in incoming and outgoing direct investment in Turkey.”
The report revealed that ODI rose from around $2.7 billion in 2017 to $3.6 billion in 2018, while FDI saw a weaker increase, from $10.9 billion to $11.9 billion over the same period.
As a result the ODI/FDI rate, one of the main indicators used to monitor a country’s capital movement, has surged dramatically from 24.7 percent to 32.4 percent.
TEPAV’s report pointed to the impaired judicial system and the drops seen in Turkey’s credit ratings as the foremost catalysts that led Turkey to lose its attraction for investors.
“Implementation of policies in support of growth and confidence and the normalization of the judicial system are of critical importance both for rallying Turkey’s credit ratings as well as redrawing foreign investors’ attention,” TEPAV said.