Turkey, Economy

Turkey’s manufacturing sector has grown considerably since 1950, but in the early 1990s farming still engaged nearly half the labor force. The government has a great deal of influence over the Turkish economy and owns several important industries. In the mid-1990s the economy was beset by a growing budget deficit and an annual rate of inflation as high as 150 percent. In response, the government initiated austerity measures that included accelerating the pace of a privatization program and increasing the price of goods produced or sold by government enterprises.