Turkish economy minister foresees recovery start by 2010

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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"My estimation is that Turkey would resume positive economic growth by 2010, but that would also hinge on the outlook of the global economy and on the prospects of its normalization," Mehmet Simsek said at a New York meeting of a U.S.-based Turkish-American business association.

The Turkish economy increasingly feels the impacts of the global financial crisis as the unemployment rate hovers at record highs and budget implications deteriorate. The government expects the economy to contract by 3.6 percent in 2009, but international institutions, such as Moody's and the International Monetary Fund, predict the rate will be over 4 percent.

Simsek said a permanent recovery of the global economy would also require an overhauling of the banking systems of countries like the United States.

The economy minister also urged global action, recalling the recent G-20 meeting in which the group called for a number of measures to be taken, the agency said.

"Institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and other regional banks should also do more to support countries like Turkey because these countries have been the locomotive of global economic growth over the last years," Simsek said.