LONDON - "Both presidential and general elections will be held on the schedule (in 2007) according to the Constitution, and this situation has consolidated people's confidence in stability in Turkey," said Turkish Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan on Monday.
Speaking at a conference on "Eurasia Links and Regional Developments" in British capital of London, Unakitan said, "we (the government) have succeeded to assure a sustainable growth, decrease inflation rate to one-digit numbers, and make a series of structural reforms during the reign of Justice & Development Party (AKP)."
"We have also fulfilled the criteria of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about the primary budget surplus. We reached surplus target of 6.5 percent. We aim at decreasing the budget deficit from 14.5 percent to less than 1 percent at the end of 2006. On the other hand, money earned from privatization reached 18 billion USD in the last four years," he added.
Upon a question, Unakitan said that Turkey, Kazakhstan and Russia would be the biggest commercial partners in the region in near future.
"Turkey is now ready to undertake important energy projects together with Russia and Kazakhstan. We will play a significant role in the transfer of Russian and Kazakh oil and gas to Europe. Those projects will also have a positive impact on peace and stability in the region," he added.
Unakitan is expected to return to Turkey tomorrow.