Tuesday, 20 September 2011
At the start of his four-day visit to Germany, Turkish President Abdullah Gül said his country will not be satisfied with anything less than full membership in the European Union.
"We are not going to give up this strategic objective," Gül said in Berlin on Monday after meeting with his German counterpart, Christian Wulff.
Turkey will be fine if its bid for EU fails, says Gül
Turkey would respect an eventual decision by EU countries to deny Turkey full membership after the completion of accession talks, President Abdullah Gül said Monday, but urged EU politicians not to hamper the ongoing process.
Eurozone can learn from our model, says Turkish finance minister
Speaking at East Capital's investor conference in Istanbul, Turkey's finance minister Mehmet Simsek said as his country's biggest trade partner, it is important Europe gets back on track.
'Unfortunately its leaders have failed to take the bold steps needed to solve it. It is clear what needs to be done and looking at Turkey's experience over the last ten years we would have a lot to offer them.'
He said the Turkish success story, which saw it move from a boom and bust economy to one of steady growth, lies in how it stabilised its debt to GDP levels.
In the past ten years it has been reduced from 80% to 40% following a major consolidation effort.
'It was tough but it was key to bringing down risk premiums,' said Simsek. 'The banking system was extremely weak and fragile. Our fiscal position was not sustainable so we prioritised these two things.'
'We liquidated around 20 banks, all the banks were transferred to an agency to resolve it. It was a hefty deal for tax payers.'
'Because we had been badly burnt in the past we asked banks to have additional capital in reserves and when the crisis began we had capital ratios of up to 18% to 20%. If Basel III were implemented today Turkish banks would have double the capital required.'
Although he admits his country's entry into the EU is still important, it is not their short term focus.
'Right now we are focusing on our fiscal policy. Having the EU as an anchor helps make the change more successful hopefully. The EU needs countries like us on board and we are not a liability. But it is not a make or break situation for us.'
http://citywire.co.uk/global/eurozone-can-learn-from-our-model-says-turkish-finance-minister/a524431
EU stress tests on banks used out of date macroeconomic data
THE European Union's bank stress tests used out of date macroeconomic assumptions that didn't reflect the severe turmoil wracking sovereign debt markets when the tests were completed, according to a confidential document prepared by senior EU finance officials that urges regulators to use more timely scenarios in next year's tests.
The stress tests, published in July, found that EU banks were mostly well-capitalised. But bank stocks plunged soon after, leading officials to discuss how the reviews could be made more "credible".
"The tests did not manage to restore market confidence," according to the document, which was discussed by finance ministers at last week's meeting in Wroclaw, Poland.
New Europe Bank Stress Tests Will Come Too Late
The European Union is suggesting that a new round of bank stress tests may be necessary to calm the capital markets, which are concerned about the balance sheets of financial firms. However, by the time such tests are completed, any sovereign defaults that could affect banks almost certainly will have happened already.
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