ANKARA - "Turkish economy broke a new record in regard to growth rate," Turkish State Minister & Chief Negotiator for EU talks Ali Babacan said on Monday.
Babacan held a press conference on macro-economic developments at Treasury Undersecretariat building in Ankara.
Underlining that Turkey became a country which is on a track of sustainable growth, Babacan indicated: "Turkish economy has been grown 7.3 percent in average during the past four years. The GNP amounted 400 billion USD, at the end of last year."
Babacan noted that growth in gross national product was recorded as 6 percent and gross domestic product rose 6.1 percent in 2006 (according to Turkish Board of Statistics-TUIK).
Stating that the private sector made investments worth 20.6 billion USD in 2002, Babacan said that this figure soared to 66.9 billion USD last year.
Stating that growth figures also made a positive impact on employment, Babacan said that the number of employed people (in Turkey) increased from 13.8 million in 2002 to 16.2 million at the end of 2006.
"National income per capita was 2,598 U.S. dollars in 2002. It became 5,477 U.S. dollars according to the figures announced today," he stated.
Babacan also indicated that there was a remarkable decrease in total public debt stock of the country.
Stating that flow of direct foreign investments into Turkey, which amounted to 1.1 billion USD between 1993 and 2002, go up to 20.2 billion USD last year, Babacan stressed that this figure amounted to 12 billion USD in the first three months of 2007.
"The ratio of those who earn less than one dollar per day is 31 percent in India and 13 percent in China. This ratio is 0.01 percent in Turkey," he added.