ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Turkish economy contracted 3.0 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018, official data showed on Monday, compared with a forecast of 2.7 percent shrinkage in a Reuters poll.
With a currency crisis knocking some 30 percent off the value of the lira last year, the economy grew 2.6 percent in 2018 as a whole, the lowest growth since 2009. It compares with a forecast of 2.55 percent growth in the poll.
Fourth quarter GDP shrank a seasonally and calendar-adjusted 2.4 percent from the previous quarter, the Turkish Statistical Institute data showed. The data also showed the economy had expanded 1.8 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, revised from a previously reported 1.6 percent.