The EBRD in Türkiye

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Istanbul, Türkiye - a view of Golden Horn bay from the Galata Tower

The EBRD has been investing in Türkiye since 2009

In Türkiye, we focus on intensifying green efforts, boosting human capital development, increasing competitiveness and strengthening Türkiye’s infrastructure and regional integration.

A Türkiye success story: how EBRD investment is helping businesses such as Bunge in Ayvalik, southern Türkiye, to build sustainable and inclusive working practices.

489

Number of projects to date

€22,164m

Cumulative EBRD investment

€16,922m

Cumulative disbursements

83%

Private sector share of portfolio

253

Number of active portfolio operations

€7,717m

Current portfolio of projects

€5,726m

Operating assets

10%

Equity share of portfolio

28 Mar 1991

Joined the EBRD

391,530

Capital subscription (€000)

EBRD Governor: Mehmet Şimşek
EBRD Alternate Governor: Osman Çelik
EBRD Board Director: Yasemin Girici
EBRD Board Alternate Director: Lucian Isar

EBRD Shareholders information

In Türkiye, we focus on intensifying green efforts, boosting human capital development, increasing competitiveness and strengthening Türkiye’s infrastructure and regional integration.

The EBRD will focus on the following strategic priorities in Türkiye for 2024-29

Intensifying green transition

The Bank will intensify its activities in support of a green economy transition and help Türkiye realise its climate ambitions.

Boosting human capital development

We are enabling Türkiye’s human capital development and fostering greater gender equality, economic and regional inclusion.

Boosting competitiveness

The Bank's work boosts Türkiye’s competitiveness through increased productivity, greater innovation and stronger governance.

Strengthening infrastructure and regional integration

Our work in Türkiye helps strengthen the country's infrastructure and regional integration.

As well as being a country in which the EBRD invests, Türkiye is a donor to the EBRD, with a total contribution to date of €31 million. Türkiye established its first bilateral donor fund with the EBRD in January 2018, for €25 million. The fund supports projects in Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Romania and the Kyrgyz Republic. The fund prioritises projects for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), financial sector stability, sustainable infrastructure, energy efficiency, governance and economic inclusion. In 2013, Türkiye provided EU funding to the EBRD for the Bank's Women in Business programme. Since 2020, Türkiye has also participated in the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) Fund.

2.8%

EBRD forecast for Türkiye’s real GDP growth in 2025

3.5%

EBRD forecast for Türkiye’s real GDP growth in 2026

Growth slowed from 5.1 per cent in 2023 to 3.2 per cent in 2024. Domestic demand weakened significantly but continued to be the main driver of growth as economic policy continued its shift towards orthodoxy, while net exports’ contribution to growth turned positive. Activity in the services sector (trade, logistics, and tourism) remained robust while construction activity was supported by post-earthquake reconstruction. On the other hand, the manufacturing sector, typically a major driver of growth, contracted owing to a tighter policy mix.

Monetary policy remained tight throughout 2024, aimed at curbing inflation and restoring macroeconomic stability. The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) held its policy rate (the one-week repo auction rate) at 50 per cent between March and December 2024, when it started to ease its policy stance with a cumulative 750 basis points reduction in three steps to 42.5 per cent, with overnight borrowing and lending rates at a margin of ± 150 basis points relative to the policy rate (41-44 per cent). However, in a surprise meeting in March 2025, the CBRT increased the overnight lending rate by 200 basis points to 46 per cent, amid heightened inflation and currency depreciation pressures and financial market volatility in the aftermath of the detention of the mayor of Istanbul following the legal proceedings against him. In its next scheduled meeting in April, the CBRT reversed its rate cutting cycle and hiked the policy rate by 350 basis points while setting the borrowing and lending rates at 44.5 and 49 per cent respectively. Tighter monetary and fiscal policies led to a significant reduction in inflation, from a peak of 75.4 per cent year on year in May 2024 to 38.1 per cent in March 2025, aided by the sharp appreciation of the Turkish lira. In real effective terms it has strengthened by 43 per cent since July 2023. In nominal terms, the lira depreciated by 7 per cent year-to-date, and the CBRT’s response to lira depreciation placed renewed pressure on international reserves. To stabilise the currency, the CBRT sold more than US$40 billion in foreign exchange in the weeks following the detention of the mayor of Istanbul, and net reserves (excluding swaps) fell from around US$60 billion to less than US$20 billion.

Despite the appreciation of the currency in real terms, the external position improved significantly. Net exports rose further, and the 12-month cumulative current account deficit declined steadily, from a peak of US$55.1 billion (5.2 per cent of GDP) in May 2023 to US$12.8 billion in February 2025 (1 per cent of GDP). The improvement was led by a lower energy import bill, lower imports of gold and strong tourism receipts. At the same time, foreign direct investment inflows remained relatively low in the same period, at US$12.2 billion (0.9 per cent of GDP).

Economic growth is expected to slow down to 2.8 per cent in 2025, before picking up to 3.5 per cent in 2026. The downward revision of 0.2 percentage points relative to the February forecast for 2025 reflects expectations of tighter domestic financial conditions amidst heightened uncertainty weighing on domestic demand, while external demand could weaken in the context of increased global trade policy uncertainty. Downside risks are related to still-high inflation and the impact of tighter-for-longer global financial conditions on Türkiye’s substantial short- term external financing needs.

Türkiye strategy and snapshot

Türkiye strategy

PDF format / 1.47 MB

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Local language translation

PDF format / 1.35 MB

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Türkiye diagnostic paper

PDF format / 2.93 MB

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Türkiye country snapshot

PDF format / 2.42 MB

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Report on Public Comments

PDF format / 0.43 MB

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Türkiye in the EBRD's Transition Report 2024-25

PDF format / 0.19 MB

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Contact the EBRD in Türkiye

Head of Office: Elisabetta Falcetti

Address:

EBRD Istanbul Resident Office, Büyükdere Caddesi, 185, Kanyon Ofis Binası, Kat: 2, Levent, 34394 Istanbul, Türkiye

Telephone:

+90 212 386 1100

EBRD Ankara Resident Office

Address:

Kızılırmak Mahallesi, YDA Center A3 Blok Kat:11 No:445 06510, Çankaya, Ankara, Türkiye

Telephone:

+90 312 205 59 60

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The EBRD in Türkiye

A Türkiye success story: how EBRD investment is helping businesses such as Bunge in Ayvalik, southern Türkiye, to build sustainable and inclusive working practices.