Turkey economy grows 4pc last yr

ISTANBUL, Mar 31 (AFP): The Turkish economy grew by 4.0 per cent last year, official data showed on Monday, after an unexpectedly firm fourth quarter, but analysts warned of a slowdown amid political uncertainty and tightening credit.
The growth data came the morning after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed landslide local poll victories for his AKP party, despite months of turmoil including street clashes and an Internet clampdown.
The political unrest, and severe tensions on Turkish financial markets, since June have rattled investors.
Meanwhile, a slowing of US monetary stimulus for the US economy is reversing a flow of cheap money which had gone into emerging economies, exacerbating weaknesses in the Turkish economy which has experienced rapid growth under Erdogan's 11-year rule.
Despite the turmoil, gross domestic product grew by 4.4 per cent in the last three months of 2013 for a 17th quarterly rise in a row, beating analysts' expectations, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed.
UBS economist Reinhard Cluse said that the latest figures for growth of gross domestic product again showed that "last year's political and economic shocks have inflicted surprisingly little damage on the Turkish economy".