Turkish Minister of Economy Ali Babacan expressed hope that his country later this year will come out of recession.

In an interview with Zaman, Babacan said Turkey would be one of the states with the highest rate of economic growth in 2010.

Turkey has suffered great damage from the global financial-economic crisis, and during the first half was a sharp decline in economic activity of almost 14 percent compared to last year.

Economists are arguing that GDP will reduce by 5.1 per cent this year and inflation rate by 6.37 percent. Government economists predict that this year the state could hold the balance sheets of deficit payments of 10.48 billion dollars or about half a billion dollars less than it was predicted earlier in 2009.

The rate of unemployment in February was a record 16.1 percent, and in May was 13.6 percent.

Babacan sees the expected recovery of the economies in the EU and the U.S. will stimulate the economy of less developed countries, including Turkey. He however acknowledged that the government in Ankara is facing huge economic challenges, including a sharp rise in budget deficit.