Liberalization and the Turkish Economy

This work consists of essays and analyses that focus on aspects of the stabilization and liberalization of Turkey between 1980 and 1987. It outlines the problems of liberalization in a highly protective inward-looking political environment such as thereis in Turkey. The essays also explore several prospects that could assist Turkey’s transition to an outward-looking, freemarket economy. The volume commences with a discussion of trade and exchange rate regimes. It then provides an assessment of the liberalization programme in terms of its impact on economic imbalances. Two contributors with contrasting views offer their analyses of the effects of liberalization polices on output and inflation. The essays that follow provide detailed coverage of the money supply process and its relation to inflation and growth; the impact of liberalization on savings; the issues involved in the restructuring of financial markets; and Turkey’s relation to foreign capital markets. Also furnished are two scenarios concerning likely departures from the status quo, and a concluding essay with suggestions for the future of Turkey’s liberalization movement.