Finance minister says Turkish economy's performance in 2010 was positively different than Europe

ZURICH (A.A) - Turkey's finance minister said on Sunday that Turkish economy had displayed a positively different performance compared to Europe last year.
Speaking at a meeting with a group of Turkish businessmen in the Swiss city of Zurich, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Turkey had managed to step forward both by narrowing down its budget deficit and increasing its investments.
Pointing out to foreign investors' strong confidence in the country, Simsek said global economic crisis had been a "stress test" for Turkey and the country had succeeded in such test.    
Simsek said Turkey had recently become one of the top 10 countries in numerous branches of the manufacturing sector.
Upon a question on Turkey's credit rating, Simsek said Turkey's rating was one grade below "investment" grade, however, it could be considered above such grade in terms of pricing of its assets.
The minister said Turkish economy was in a much better position than numerous countries with a rating of "A".
Commenting on the relations between Turkey and the International Monetary Fund, Simsek said the two parties had not signed a deal as the fund had not supported the program prepared by Turkey.  
Simsek also noted that Turkey and Switzerland had reached an agreement on the prevention of double taxation, adding such agreement would be approved by the parliaments of the two countries soon.
Upon completing his talks in Switzerland, Simsek returned to Turkey