Turkey’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 55.6 in February from the 55.7 posted for January, which was the highest level recorded since March 2011, IHS Markit said on March 1.

Index figures higher than 50 indicate an overall improvement in Turkey’s manufacturing industry. Turkey’s PMI index has been higher than 50 for 12 months in a row since March 2017 after staying lower than 50 in the previous 12 months from March 2016 to February 2017.

“February data indicated that the health of the Turkish manufacturing sector improved at a rate broadly similar to that seen at the start of 2018, supported by strong growth in output and new orders. Consequently, job creation accelerated in February as businesses aimed to increase operating capacity,” Gabriella Dickens, an economist at IHS Markit, said of the latest data.

On the price front, unfavourable exchange rates contributed to an increase in firms’ costs, although both input and output price inflation eased, according to IHS Markit.

Turkey’s calendar-adjusted industrial production index gained 8.7% y/y in December, accelerating from the 7% y/y rise recorded in the previous month.

Industrial production in Turkey has stayed in annual growth territory for 15 months, peaking at 14.5% last July. Average annual industrial production growth escalated to 6.3% in 2017 from 1.8% in 2016.

Turkey’s manufacturing boom has very much been founded on the government's TRY250bn ($53bn) credit guarantee fund (CGF) for backstopping bank loans to businesses. Following the failed coup and the brake it put on economic growth, Turkey spurred the economy by upping spending across the board, hiking wages, pouring capital into investments and guaranteeing loans with the CGF.