Babacan: "Increase in employment and growth rate are considered success"

Assessing Turkey’s growth rate figures for Q1 of 2013 after announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan who is in charge of economy stated that increase in both growth rate and employment should be simultaneously considered as a significant achievement. Babacan said that the gross domestic product (GDP) came out with a 3 percent of increase in the first quarter compared to the same term of the previous year which was recorded over expectations. Babacan stated that final private consumption expenditure which had gone weak last year started to make positive contributions to the growth in the Q1 of this year. "We expect an increase in the contribution made by private sector in the remaining part of the year. In the first quarter, public investments have also contributed to growth to a great extent," said Babacan, adding that Turkey’s economy which has been growing since 2010 and an increase in the employment rate in Turkey was recorded as 1.2 million people in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same term of 2012. "In many developed and developing countries, unemployment rate continues to rise, currently hitting top levels. The fulfillment of growth in our country and strong rise in the employment rate are considered important success," Babacan noted.