Babacan: Turkey will become the fastest growing country in Europe

According to Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan, the recent increase in the October industrial production index shows that the predicted year-end growth rate will be revised upwards. Babacan spoke at the fifth Turkey Sector Specific Economic Council organized by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) yesterday. He touched upon October data concerning the Turkish industrial production index and said the increase was far higher than expectations. "Industrial output increased by 9.8 percent in October. The recovery in Turkish industry started in October 2009, and now we see a significant increase in the industrial production index. This shows that we, as the government, need to revise year-end growth expectations upwards," said Babacan. Babacan also mentioned that the Turkish economy grew by 11 percent in the first six months of this year. "The European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicate their year-end growth rate expectations for Turkey as 7.5, 7.8 and 8.2 percent, respectively. This shows that Turkey will be the fastest growing nation in Europe; both this year and next year. Turkey also has the lowest public debt to national income ratio in Europe," said Babacan. He also touched upon recent financial developments around the world and said the global financial crisis has not diminished. He added that the crisis has moved into a new phase with the crisis in Greece.