Yılmaz, speaking at a panel discussion at the Central and Eastern Europe Forum organized by Euromoney in Vienna, noted that Turkey has a budget deficit problem due mainly to last year’s global economic meltdown. However, he added, more focus should be put on fiscal discipline.
“Fiscal discipline is the sine qua non of a healthy society. Turkey had suffered from high rates of inflation for 30 to 35 years. The inflation rate was around 95 percent in 2001. We managed to decrease it to 40 percent in 2008,” he said, adding that the budget deficit in 2009 was about 6 percent. Asked about a possible stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Yılmaz stated that Turkey does not need the IMF to deal with the aftereffects of the global financial crisis. He recalled that previous agreements with the IMF were signed in order to boost economic growth.
In addition to Yılmaz, Governor of the Albanian Central Bank Ardian Fullani, Executive Director of the Croatian Central Bank Ljubignko Jankov and Montenegro Central Bank Governor Nikola Fabris were in attendance at the forum, which was moderated by Herbert Stepic, executive board president of Raiffeisen International Bank in Austria.
