UNICREDIT EXECUTIVE: TURKEY EXPECTED TO BE EUROPE'S FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY

ISTANBUL (A.A) - 21.10.2010 - UniCredit Board of Directors member Vittorio Ogliengo said that Turkey was expected to be the fastest growing economy of Europe in 2011 and 2012.
Speaking at the 5th Turkish Infrastructure Financing Conference in Istanbul on Thursday, Ogliengo said that they were expecting Turkey to grow seven percent in 2010, and 4.5 percent in 2011. He added that inflation figure in Turkey was envisioned to remain on single digit, and interest rate would be under ten percent.
Ogliengo also said that the investments in energy sector in Turkey increased despite the negative condition in 2009 due to global economic crisis.
Noting that the banking sector was in good condition in the aspect of capital, Ogliengo said that it was necessary to focus on liquidity and capitalization.
Ogliengo said that most of the banks considered Turkey as an important market, adding that the market in Turkey reached a new level in the aspect of project financing. He noted that projects on transportation and health would increase in the country.
We envisage a 20-25 billion USD of potential for project financing in the next 3-4 years, said Ogliengo adding that the projects would focus on infrastructure,privatization of ports, energy, gas and health areas.
Ogliengo said that they saw Turkey as a market which had critical importance, adding that they set up an infrastructure team for a more rapid response to requests on infrastructure projects in the country.
He recalled that UniCredit signed a 14-year financing agreement worth of 156.5 million USD for Bandirma Port project which was structured only in two months.
He added that UniCredit provided a financing worth of nearly 900 million euro for 27 projects in 2009.
UniCredit is a major international financial institution with strong roots in 22 European countries and an international network present in approximately 50 markets, with 9,578 branches and more than 162,000 employees.
In the CEE region, UniCredit operates the largest international banking network with around 4,000 branches and outlets.
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