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Expenditures made with credit cards and debit cards in Turkey ​increased by 27% on an annual basis to Turkish lira (TRY) 121bn ($16.4bn) in July​.
Such payments declined in April and May, but started to pick up in June as the country rolled back measures introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Payments with debit cards rose 66% y/y to TRY20bn in July while the increase for credit card payments was 21% y/y to TRY93bn, according to data from the Interbank Card Centre (BKM).
There were 175mn debit cards and 72mn credit cards in use in Turkey as of end-July.
Some 3mn people visited shopping centres in Turkey in June per day on average and the figure increased to 4mn visitors a day in July​, ​according to Huseyin Altas, head of the Council of Shopping Centres (AYD).
“We expect around 4.5mn daily visitors in August,” he told state-run news service Anadolu Agency.
Noting that all shopping centres in the country reopened as of June 1 after the government ordered their closure amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, he added: “In terms of the number of visitors, shopping centres reached 70% of pre-outbreak levels in July and as far as revenues are concerned, they reached 80% of pre-outbreak levels.”
5.0​ External Sector & Trade 5.1 ​Import/export dynamics
Turkey's machinery exports amounted to $9.1bn in the first seven months of 2020, declining 11.9% on an annual basis, a trading group ​said​ on August 11.
In July, the industry’s exports remained flat year on year at $1.5bn.
The sector saw a $600mn decline in shipments to its main export markets, namely Germany, the UK, the US, Italy and France in the first seven months of the year. However shipments to Russia leapt 19% on an annual basis.
Global machinery trade narrowed by 20%, while Turkey's machinery exports fell less than 12% in the seven-month period, said Kutlu Karavelioglu, head of the Machinery Exporters’ Association (MAIB).
32​ TURKEY Country Report​ September 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com