SYDNEY
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister for economy Ali Babacan said that the development of long term financial opportunities for lower investments is one of the basic priorities of the G-20, while attending a conference of G-20 ministers and central bank presidents on Friday.
Babacan said that as term president of the G-20 Turkey will continue to implement articles of the agenda approved during the term presidencies of Russia and Australia.
He said: "We give importance to close cooperation between G-20 member and non-member countries."
He added that although G-20 countries constitute 2/3rd of the world population -- 80% of the world's trade and 90% of the global GDP -- Turkey still wants extensive relations with the non-member countries.
Babacan said that the U.S. Federal Reserve will have to take care of its own economy and inflation rate first, but it should care about other countries, too, while taking any steps because "finance and trade are clamped together in the world and no country lives isolated anymore."
The improvement of world economy as a whole is very important because the progression of any individual economy does not help and yield any positive results in the presence of other troubled economies, said Babacan.
Babacan said a strong banking system has been a fundamental source of power for Turkey’s economy for the last ten years. Turkey’s public debt ratio has been reduced from 45% to 35% and budget deficit from 5.5% to 1.1% since 2009, while the banking sector has supported economic development due to structural reforms.
Turkey had an average growth rate of 6% within last 4 years and created 6 million jobs, he added.
Referring to Turkey’s reforms within the last ten years, Babacan said that these reforms were important for democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms as well as strengthening of the rule of law.
We have always taken guidance from norms of the international law and EU membership process is very important for Turkey. We have recently accelerated our EU membership process and a new negotiation chapter has opened while two more are about to open, Babacan said.
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