Turkey's consumer confidence index up 1.2%

Turkey's consumer confidence index increased by 1.2 percent in February compared with last month, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Wednesday. While the index was 75.8 in January, it rose to 76.7 in February, said TurkStat. Also, figures from the TurkStat showed that the index of general economic situation expectation in the next 12 months, which was 97.4 in January, increased by 1.7 percent to 99 in February. Analysts said that the improvement of these figures may indicate a recovery of Turkey's domestic demand in the first quarter. Turkey is looking to drive up its economic growth to about 4 percent this year from only 2.5 percent in 2012, a record low in recent years, while hoping its domestic consumption will pick up after a yearlong decline in 2012.