Moody's paves the way for Turkey

Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said that Moody's upgrading Turkey's credit rating to "investible level" paved the way for Turkey. Speaking at a conference organised by Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International in London, Simsek assessed Moody's upgrading Turkey's credit rating. Simsek said it was an important development, adding that "Long term investors who were not eager to make investments in Turkey as Turkey did not have a credit rating at "investible level" will be able to invest in Turkey now. Ups and downs in fund inflow will decrease." Saying that Turkey was a fast growing county with challenging projects in education, health and infrastructure, Simsek said it was highly important to access international capital markets to fund these projects. "The European Union (EU) is still in recession. If Turkey grows by 4% despite the problems in the neighbouring countries in 2013, this is a great success. I believe the last credit rating upgrade will help Turkey's growth. We are expecting  low cost borrowing, less budget deficit and unemployment in 2013  and later years," Simsek said. Simsek said if Turkey ended terrorism with the solution process, the county would be an important actor in terms of politics and economy, adding that the money spent on struggling with terrorism would be spent on production capacity. "The solution process will not only make Turkey a globally respected country but also Turkey will use its sources more productively" Simsek said. Touching upon Turkey's EU membership, Simsek said Turkey showed less interest in the union as there was a perception that the EU did not want Turkey. "Turkey needs the EU and the EU needs Turkey. However fears of several politicians in the EU, blocks the development of Turkey-EU relations," said Simsek.