An eased debt burden along with directed government policies to stabilize and reform economic policy led to the upgrading of Turkey’s credit rating in an environment where nearly 100 downgrades have occurred, said Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan.

Babacan, speaking to the press, noted that government policies which eased Turkey’s debt burden, strong and realistic expectations of economic growth set out in the Medium Term Program (OVP), the banking sector reform, social security reform in 2008 and not becoming indebted in the difficult year of 2009 together led to the upgrade of Turkey’s credit rating by international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded Turkey’s long-term foreign currency and local currency sovereign credit ratings by one grade to BB and BB+, respectively, the latest in a series of upgrades recognizing Turkey’s stability during the financial crisis and its decreasing debt levels.

“The upgrade reflects our view of the Turkish government’s improving economic policy flexibility as a result of its strong track record in steadily reducing the debt burden over the past decade”, said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Frank Gill. “It also reflects our opinion of the success of Turkey’s regulatory institutions in preserving the solidity of the financial sector, despite external adversity. Standard & Poor’s believes Turkey’s banking system will be one of the strongest and least-leveraged in Eastern Europe”, he added.