Current account deficit not a threat for Turkish economy, says Minister

ISTANBUL (A.A) - July 12, 2011 - Turkey's economy minister said current account deficit not a threat for Turkey and that Turkish government would solve this problem.
At a meeting with economic journalists, Turkey's newly appointed Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan described current account deficit as a problem that exists from the past.
"This is a headache not only for Turkey. 128 countries have this problem. We will definitely solve this problem," Caglayan said.
Turkey's current account deficit rose 121.3 percent to $37.2 billion in the first five months of 2011 when compared to the same period of 2010, indicating an increase of $20.4 billion, Central Bank announced on Monday.
Caglayan said the government would struggle to reduce current account deficit by the help of measures aiming to mitigate country's dependence on imports. He said the government was working on particular sectors.
Caglayan criticized analysts who argued that current account deficit was a threat for Turkey, saying: "Turkey's has a much more robust economic balance when compared with the past."
Caglayan also said that overvalued Turkish currency was a major factor that caused rise in current account deficit, as "overvalued Turkish lira caused a big boom in imports."
"I never wanted to blame Central Bank but we are suffering the consequences of wrong policies made by Monetary Policy Committee," he said.