Turkey's long term credit rating upgraded to BB+

International credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on Wednesday upgraded Turkey's long term credit rating to BB+ from BB. In a statement released, S&P underlined that Turkey was in the process of rebalancing its economy. S&P emphasized that the resolution of the Kurdish issue would have a positive effect on Turkey's ratings. The progress made on the Kurdish issue will lead to a decline in security related spendings and would increase border trade in Turkey,S&P noted as a reason for the upgrade. In response to the upgrade, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek stressed that "it was encouraging. However, Turkey deserves a higher rating". Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çaglayan said he was expecting the upgrading for a long time. I do not consider S&P's upgrading as sufficient, Caglayan underlined.