Turkey Q1 GDP grows a better-than-expected 11.7% on yr, second fastest after China

Turkey’s GDP grew 11.7% on year in the first quarter of 2010, the Turkish Statistics Institute said on Wednesday, outperforming the consensus forecast of 11.4% and making it the second fastest growing country in the world after China.
 
On June 29, PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said the country’s GDP growth probably broke a new record in Q1, without providing details.
 
Turkey’s Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergun said on Wednesday that he expected the economic growth to lose steam in the second quarter of 2010 and come between 6-8%, Reuters reported.
 
China’s economy grew by 11.9% in the first quarter of this year, reports the government.