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WBs Zoellick: Turkey an example of successful growth in difficult times
WB President Zoellick and Turkeys deputy PM Babacan held a joint press conference in Ankara on Wednesday.
World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said in Ankara on Wednesday that Turkey's unique growth model sets an example for world markets, most of which are currently struggling.
Zoellick met with Deputy Prime Minister and former Economy Minister Ali Babacan during his visit to Ankara early on Wednesday. The two officials held a press conference to share views on the latest market developments, along with Turkey's relationship with the World Bank.
Noting that Turkey was an important economy in its region, Zoellick said the country's economic program was very strong because Turkey focused on restructuring its economy with a strategic approach. The World Bank head also recalled that Turkey has implemented very important structural reforms in its economy since the year 2002. Underscoring that there was increasing interest in Turkey's economic achievements, not only in its region but also in global markets, Zoellick lauded Turkey's growth success.
Turkey's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 11 percent, or TL 25.9 billion, in the January-March period of this year over the same months a year ago, making it the world's fastest growing country during this period. Zoellick also said that Turkey had taken successful steps in the past decade and highlighted the importance of countries' standing on their own two feet.
Turkey is a development success with a per capita income nearly tripling that of 10 years ago, Zoellick said in a separate statement ahead of his arrival in Turkey late on Tuesday. Zoellick on Wednesday defined Turkey as a key actor of increasing importance that supported the development of other countries, saying that therefore the bank wished to boost its cooperation with the G-20 member regarding the country's role in the regional economy. A country aspiring to become one of the top 10 economies in the world by the year 2023, the centennial of the foundation of the modern republic, Turkey achieved 8.9 percent growth in 2010 over the preceding year, surpassing the World Bank estimate of 4 percent. The government anticipates 4.5 percent growth in the economy this year over 2010.
Inflation risk still lingers in markets
Despite the positive picture he drew, Zoellick had some reservations. He said some countries were growing rapidly, while others had a relatively slower growth rate, which could be a problem. The problem he points to is essentially the inflation risk that has long haunted emerging markets. The World Bank director said that emerging economies could face an inflation problem and Turkey should be careful about that.
The director said Turkey was focusing its energy on employment, education and energy and the bank hoped to help Turkey in those areas. Turkey received the second most money in loans from the World Bank last year and the bank had many significant investments in Turkey, he noted. According to Zoellick, the bank recently allocated $7.6 billion in loans to Turkey and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) -- the private sector development arm of the World Bank -- has committed to extending $2.6 billion in loans to Turkey
He said they saw very fast recovery in emerging markets, including Turkey, following the 2009 global financial crisis. According to the data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) on June 3, the consumer price index (CPI) last month surged by 2.42 percent month-on-month and 7.17 percent year-on-year. The government earlier warned that year-end inflation might be higher than estimated due to external developments, including an unprecedented hike in oil and food prices in global markets.
In his remarks concerning the global economy and regional development, Zoellick said that growth has slowed down in markets surrounding Turkey due to problems in the European economy and that might affect exports and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. However, I believe that economic program of Turkey is very strong, he added. Zoellick said that he had two main goals in his visit to Turkey. The first was to discuss what Turkey could do to reach its goals for economic growth and the second was to see which areas the World Bank could consolidate cooperation with Turkey in.
During the four-day visit, Zoellick is accompanied by World Bank Vice President Philippe Le Houerou and World Bank Executive Director for Turkey Konstantin Huber to hold meetings with government officials, representatives of the Turkish private sector and nongovernmental organizations.
IMF projection of 2.5 pct growth unrealistic'
Asked about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently projecting only 2.5 percent growth in the Turkish economy in 2012, the World Bank director said that such estimates were not realistic for Turkey. I guess they have miscalculated something here, he opined.
Commenting on the same issue, Babacan said the projection was prepared by the IMF delegation alone, adding that an assessment to be jointly made by Turkish officials and officials from the fund would be more credible. The IMF expects a growth rate of 8.7 percent for Turkey in 2011. Different international sources earlier put Turkey's average growth rate for the following five years at around 5 to 7 percent.
Making mention of developments in global markets, Babacan said the Turkish government hoped European leaders would make sound decisions to solve the debt crisis in the eurozone and a current impasse regarding debt limit would be resolved in the United States. If they are not resolved, we should be prepared for negative scenarios," he noted.
Recalling that the IFC opened its first overseas branch in İstanbul, Babacan said the government placed importance on cooperation between the Turkish private sector and the World Bank. Nearly 160 people are working in the IFC office in İstanbul. The IFC has been conducting activities to finance the private sector from İstanbul, not only in Turkey but also in the entire region. Zoellick will also visit this office," Babacan said. There are 21 projects to be conducted by Turkey and World Bank. We are also working on a new cooperation strategy covering the 2012-2015 period," Babacan said.
"We need significant reforms in several areas, including education, jurisdiction and economy, to reach Turkey's 2023 goals. We aim to be one of the 10 largest economies of the world. We attach great importance to the assistance to be provided by the World Bank," he said.
Later in the day, Zoellick participated in a meeting held by the Women Entrepreneurs' Association of Turkey (KAGİDER) in İstanbul. He also visited the Natural Disaster Management Coordination Center in Cağaloğlu, which was established within the scope of a seismic risk mitigation project and supported by the World Bank. Zoellick is due to meet with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in İstanbul on Thursday.
WB
WB President Zoellick and Turkeys deputy PM Babacan held a joint press conference in Ankara on Wednesday.
World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said in Ankara on Wednesday that Turkey's unique growth model sets an example for world markets, most of which are currently struggling.
Zoellick met with Deputy Prime Minister and former Economy Minister Ali Babacan during his visit to Ankara early on Wednesday. The two officials held a press conference to share views on the latest market developments, along with Turkey's relationship with the World Bank.
Noting that Turkey was an important economy in its region, Zoellick said the country's economic program was very strong because Turkey focused on restructuring its economy with a strategic approach. The World Bank head also recalled that Turkey has implemented very important structural reforms in its economy since the year 2002. Underscoring that there was increasing interest in Turkey's economic achievements, not only in its region but also in global markets, Zoellick lauded Turkey's growth success.
Turkey's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 11 percent, or TL 25.9 billion, in the January-March period of this year over the same months a year ago, making it the world's fastest growing country during this period. Zoellick also said that Turkey had taken successful steps in the past decade and highlighted the importance of countries' standing on their own two feet.
Turkey is a development success with a per capita income nearly tripling that of 10 years ago, Zoellick said in a separate statement ahead of his arrival in Turkey late on Tuesday. Zoellick on Wednesday defined Turkey as a key actor of increasing importance that supported the development of other countries, saying that therefore the bank wished to boost its cooperation with the G-20 member regarding the country's role in the regional economy. A country aspiring to become one of the top 10 economies in the world by the year 2023, the centennial of the foundation of the modern republic, Turkey achieved 8.9 percent growth in 2010 over the preceding year, surpassing the World Bank estimate of 4 percent. The government anticipates 4.5 percent growth in the economy this year over 2010.
Inflation risk still lingers in markets
Despite the positive picture he drew, Zoellick had some reservations. He said some countries were growing rapidly, while others had a relatively slower growth rate, which could be a problem. The problem he points to is essentially the inflation risk that has long haunted emerging markets. The World Bank director said that emerging economies could face an inflation problem and Turkey should be careful about that.
The director said Turkey was focusing its energy on employment, education and energy and the bank hoped to help Turkey in those areas. Turkey received the second most money in loans from the World Bank last year and the bank had many significant investments in Turkey, he noted. According to Zoellick, the bank recently allocated $7.6 billion in loans to Turkey and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) -- the private sector development arm of the World Bank -- has committed to extending $2.6 billion in loans to Turkey
He said they saw very fast recovery in emerging markets, including Turkey, following the 2009 global financial crisis. According to the data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) on June 3, the consumer price index (CPI) last month surged by 2.42 percent month-on-month and 7.17 percent year-on-year. The government earlier warned that year-end inflation might be higher than estimated due to external developments, including an unprecedented hike in oil and food prices in global markets.
In his remarks concerning the global economy and regional development, Zoellick said that growth has slowed down in markets surrounding Turkey due to problems in the European economy and that might affect exports and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. However, I believe that economic program of Turkey is very strong, he added. Zoellick said that he had two main goals in his visit to Turkey. The first was to discuss what Turkey could do to reach its goals for economic growth and the second was to see which areas the World Bank could consolidate cooperation with Turkey in.
During the four-day visit, Zoellick is accompanied by World Bank Vice President Philippe Le Houerou and World Bank Executive Director for Turkey Konstantin Huber to hold meetings with government officials, representatives of the Turkish private sector and nongovernmental organizations.
IMF projection of 2.5 pct growth unrealistic'
Asked about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently projecting only 2.5 percent growth in the Turkish economy in 2012, the World Bank director said that such estimates were not realistic for Turkey. I guess they have miscalculated something here, he opined.
Commenting on the same issue, Babacan said the projection was prepared by the IMF delegation alone, adding that an assessment to be jointly made by Turkish officials and officials from the fund would be more credible. The IMF expects a growth rate of 8.7 percent for Turkey in 2011. Different international sources earlier put Turkey's average growth rate for the following five years at around 5 to 7 percent.
Making mention of developments in global markets, Babacan said the Turkish government hoped European leaders would make sound decisions to solve the debt crisis in the eurozone and a current impasse regarding debt limit would be resolved in the United States. If they are not resolved, we should be prepared for negative scenarios," he noted.
Recalling that the IFC opened its first overseas branch in İstanbul, Babacan said the government placed importance on cooperation between the Turkish private sector and the World Bank. Nearly 160 people are working in the IFC office in İstanbul. The IFC has been conducting activities to finance the private sector from İstanbul, not only in Turkey but also in the entire region. Zoellick will also visit this office," Babacan said. There are 21 projects to be conducted by Turkey and World Bank. We are also working on a new cooperation strategy covering the 2012-2015 period," Babacan said.
"We need significant reforms in several areas, including education, jurisdiction and economy, to reach Turkey's 2023 goals. We aim to be one of the 10 largest economies of the world. We attach great importance to the assistance to be provided by the World Bank," he said.
Later in the day, Zoellick participated in a meeting held by the Women Entrepreneurs' Association of Turkey (KAGİDER) in İstanbul. He also visited the Natural Disaster Management Coordination Center in Cağaloğlu, which was established within the scope of a seismic risk mitigation project and supported by the World Bank. Zoellick is due to meet with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in İstanbul on Thursday.
WB
