One of the most severe troubles of the Turkish economy is the current deficit. This state means that the savings do not correspond to the investments.

The gap in between is covered via foreign debts, and this time the foreign debts soar in an uncontrollable fashion. While the foreign debt grows, the current deficit rises and the economy becomes more fragile. Unemployment becomes rampant, inflation begins to rise; the balance cannot possibly be stricken in the budget. So, how to cover this deficit? Giving up on investments is out of question. A developing country like Turkey needs to grow even further. This necessitates the increase of investments.

The first solution to come to mind is raising the rate of savings. However, it is not that simple when it is turned into practice. As the savings increase, the investments come to a halt this time, economy enters recession and clouds of crisis appear on the horizon.

So, what is to be done? In summary, is it possible to raise the savings ratio without compromising growth? We asked this question to Osman Ulagay, a columnist for Milliyet daily. Ulugay has the opinion that it is possible to both save and grow. Here lies the secret to the “Chinese miracle”: “If a country is able to save nearly half of the added value she produces instead of consuming it, then this means an immense accumulation of wealth, a resource that can be turned into investment. Thanks to that, China is able to make a high amount of investment and to raise her national income, her GDP by more than 11 percent per annum. As an extension of that, she has an increasingly growing foreign trade surplus and current transactions surplus.