Turkey's economic growth soars in first quarter of 2016

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth soared at a rate of 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported Friday.

The figure exceeded consensus analyst estimates of 4.4 percent.

Gross Domestic Product in the fourth quarter of 2015 rose to 31.7 billion Turkish liras ($11 billion), up 4.8 percent compared with 30.1 billion liras in the first quarter of 2015, TurkStat said.

Performance in the first quarter pushed overall annual GDP growth to 4.8 percent, with cumulative GDP reaching 499.3 billion Turkish liras in current prices ($172 billion), it added.