Macroeconomic Performance and Volatility of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

ABSTRACT: This thesis aims to comparatively analyze the macroeconomic performance and volatility of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) over the period 1980 – 2010, which is further categorized into three sub-periods: 1980–1990, 1990–2000, and 2000–2010. I compute and compare the respective period averages and volatility measures of selected macroeconomic parameters, such as GDP growth; inflation, saving, investment, and unemployment rates; general government balance (% of GDP); export-to-import ratio; shares of exports and imports in GDP; trade openness (as measured by the ratio of the sum of exports and imports as a proportion of GDP); and current account balance (% of GDP). The averages are compared primarily to determine the factors that cause fluctuations and dramatic increases/decreases in the aforementioned parameters, as well as to identify the highest and lowest recorded values of the parameters. I also comparatively analyze the sectorial composition of TRNC’s GDP. Computations of volatility focus on which period exhibits the highest and lowest volatility across the entire period studied Keywords: Macroeconomic Performance, Volatility, Comparative Analysis. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………