With 8.5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2011, Turkey boasts the fastest growing economy in Europe and after China, the second fastest in the world. At the same time, its sovereign debt-to-GDP ratio is only 40%, and private sector borrowing is just 19% of GDP, making it one of the world’s least leveraged emerging markets. Couple that with a population of 74 million, half of which is below the age of 30, and a banking sector which, with an average capacity adequacy ratio of 16.5%, is one of the healthiest in the world, and clearly Turkey is a banking market ripe for growth.
Indeed most forecasts predict that even despite continuing turmoil in the eurozone, Turkey will still manage GDP growth of about 4% in 2012. Loan growth is predicted to hover between 15% and 18% and predictions for deposits only slightly lower.
