Turkish finmin says economic growth to be around 8 percent

ANKARA (A.A) - January 16, 2012 - Turkish finance minister said regarding growth expectation for Turkish economy in 2011 that the recent figures showed that economic growth would be around 8 percent. Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek held a press conference in the ministry on Monday. World economy showed a great economic performance in the first half of 2011, but Eurozone debt crisis negatively affected the world economy in the second half of 2011, he said. Recalling that world economy grew by 5.1 percent in 2010, Simsek said, "there are different predictions for 2011. But according to the latest predictions, growth will probably be lower than 4 percent in global economy or it can be close to 3 percent." Simsek said that Turkey showed a great performance in 2011 in regard to growth, employment and budget. In 2010, Turkish economy grew by 9 percent, he added.