'Turkey to enter normalization process after elections'

By Merve Ozlem Cakir, Deniz Cicek Palabiyik and Cuneyt Kemal Ozkok

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey will quickly enter a normalization process following the March 31 municipal elections, the country’s treasury and finance minister said late Thursday.

There will be no election issues in Turkey for 4.5 years following the polls, and the country will swiftly proceed into a new era, Berat Albayrak stressed in a television broadcast.

"After the elections, Turkey will enter into a reform period, where there will be positive results of the economic rebalancing period," he noted.

These economic reforms will be announced during the week of April 8, he said.

"In the coming period, Turkey's foreign trade will be balanced and its fragility will be eliminated," he added.

Turkey will take the necessary steps to strengthen its financial ecosystem, he said.

He said monetary and fiscal policies will be normalized in coordination.

The Central Bank is also taking steps independently and will continue to take steps in its own way, Albayrak stressed.

"In recent days, there have been currency fluctuations based on speculative information in Turkey," he said.

Several people who are reputed to be economists are spreading disinformation in many channels, he noted.

He added that speculation should be tackled more efficiently.

Turkey's potential is in its current position in world trade. The country has the capacity for meeting $250 billion to $300 billion in exports, he noted.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul