Serdengecti: Turkish Economy Has Grown By 25.5 Percent Since 2001

ANKARA (AA) - ''Turkish economy has grown by 25.5 percent since 2001. Foreign trade volume, most of which was with the EU, increased 120 percent in the same period,'' said Turkish Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti.
     Conference on ''Macro-Economic Policies for Accession to EU'' which was held by Central Bank and Turkish Bilkent and German Bonn universities has started in Ankara on Friday.
     Taking floor at the opening of the conference, Serdengecti said, ''Turkey's accession to the EU is a long-term target and December 17th, 2004 summit was important within that scope.''
     ''The period till Turkey's EU full membership is important. Reforms on economic, political and legal areas should be adopted within that period. These reforms should be adopted even though Turkey cannot join EU,'' he added.
     ''Thanks to strong economic policies in Turkey, inflation and interest rates decreased and growth dynamism of Turkey grew,'' noted Serdengecti.
     ''We get more closer to EU if we provide more sustainable growth. So Central Bank attaches importance to banking sector reform. This reform process should continue. Tax reform and social security reform are also important in terms of decreasing the unregistered economy,'' said Serdengecti.
     He noted, ''Turkey needs foreign capital and it is necessary to work hard to draw foreign capital. Coordination of economic policies is also important.''

2005-05-06