After having almost emptied its foreign exchange reserves, Turkey is now betting on gold. Currently, the country is facing a severe crisis due to unreasonable military operations and incompetence of some officials. For this reason, Turkey has been seeking solutions to boost the local economy. It appears that gold looks like a perfect tool to improve the overall economic situation in the country.
Therefore, Turkey is actively ramping up domestic gold output. In 2000, gold production there barely exceeded one ton. Yet, by the middle of this decade, the annual production grew to 30 tons. At the end of last year, Turkey managed to produce up to 38 tons, notching a record. In comparison with other gold-producing countries, Turkey's gold supply is quite vast. According to the Turkish Gold Miners Association, production of the precious metal is expected to multiply by 16% to 44 tons this year. Hasan Yücel, the head of Turkey’s Gold Miners Association, said that Tukey would increase local production to 60 tons over the next five years thanks to appropriate planning and strategy.
Apart from local production, Turkey also buys gold abroad. Following the example of China, India, Turkey accumulates the purchased gold inside the country. As a result, Turkey is ahead of China and India in terms of the relative level of gold imports per capita.
