ANKARA
When the public sector provides an atmosphere of trust the private sector can invest and this is what has happened in Turkey, says Turkish Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz on Tuesday during a visit to the Anadolu Agency offices.
Speaking during a question and answer session at the editors' meeting Yilmaz stated that confidence building policies and a stable government are the formula for Turkey's recent growth. Maintenance of price stability during the last decade is also one of Turkey's achievements he said.
"The data of the last decade itself is an indicator of Turkey's progress in this period," he said.
Yilmaz stressed that the Turkish economy has grown despite the political uncertainities and economic crisis across the world.
"The economic growth rate of the last three years is 6.7 per cent and we expect a growth rate of 3.6 per cent this year. Our expectation for 2014 is 4 per cent," said Yilmaz.
"On the one hand, Turkey has grown its economy, on the other hand, it has fought against poverty and made a more balanced distribution of income," he added.
Yilmaz touched on the positive effects of the solution process, predicting that it will lead to an increase in employment in regions of Turkey that "have been fallowed for almost 30 years."
"The exports from the Southeastern Region will exceed $9 billion in 2013," he forecasts.
Yilmaz also referred to the significance of Turkey's trade with neighbouring countries. He gave the example of existing trade relations with Iran, which boosts the economy of Eastern Black Sea Region and Eastern Anatolian Region.
When asked about the recent gradings of international credit rating agencies S&P and Moody's for Turkey, Yilmaz noted that "Turkey is a country that is wronged in terms of credit rating."
International credit rating agencies did not give a good account of themselves during the global economic crisis he added.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services stated in late November for Turkey's inflation rate that "We expect inflation to reach 8% by the end of 2013, but to ease again when the lira stabilizes. Credit growth stands out among the risks Turkey faces according to the S&P's announcent."
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