Economic confidence in Turkey climbed for the fifth straight month in February, reaching the highest level since April 2018, the Ahval news website reported.
The Economic Confidence Index rose to 97.5 points this month from 97.1 in January, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Thursday. It had stood at 83.6 points in February of last year.
The measure is an amalgamation of previously reported indices covering consumers, industry, retail, services and construction. Any reading below 100 points reflects pessimism about the future.
Turkey’s economy is emerging from a severe downturn sparked by a currency crisis in the summer of 2018, thanks in part to government tax cuts, cheaper lending by state-run banks and a slowdown in inflation.
The increase in confidence in February was led by sentiment in industry and in the services sector. Confidence among consumers and in construction and retail declined, the figures showed.
The index fell to as low as 75.2 in October 2018, two months after the crisis struck. It last posted a reading above 100 points in March of that year.