ISTANBUL, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkey expects its economy to be freed from the grip of recession by the end of this year, local daily Today's Zaman quoted Economy Minister Ali Babacan as saying.

    Turkey will be one of the countries to register high growth rates from 2010 when the global economic crisis begins to thaw, the minister said in a statement at a fast-breaking dinner organized by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association in Ankara on Thursday.

    Turkey has been hit hard by the global economic crisis and slumped deep into recession this year. The economy contracted almost 14 percent during the first quarter.

    Economists predict the economy will shrink 5.1 percent and inflation rate will be 6.37 percent this year.

    The current account deficit was seen at 10.48 billion U.S. dollars this year compared with a previous prediction of 10.53 billion U.S. dollars.

    The unemployment rate, after reaching a record high of 16.1 percent in February, has improved a bit thanks to the tourism season, although May data indicated that the figure was still at 13.6 percent.

    The minister further estimated that the debts of G20 economies may exceed their gross domestic products (GDP) this year.

    He suggested that the U.S. and EU economies will lag far behind the relatively less-developed economies on the path to the economic recovery.

    Like virtually every country in the world, Turkey also sustained damage from the economic crisis, the minister said, admitting that the budget deficit and debt stock will rise this year.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis