Turkey brushes off Russia spillover concerns for economy

(MENAFN- Arab News) ANKARA: Turkey has brushed off concerns over the possible impact of the Russian economic crisis saying its economy was strong enough to survive the turbulence in emerging markets.

'The volatility in oil producing countries like Russia can have an impact on developing countries' Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara where he unveiled a new macro-economic program.

But he said the government had predicted any possible impact of such volatility and had taken timely measures.

'Nobody should expect any negative development on the economy ... We have full confidence in the Turkish economy's resources' he said.

'Our foreign exchange reserves and the instruments we have are inherently solid.'

Turkey and Russia are enjoying burgeoning trade ties despite their differences over political issues including the Syrian crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Turkey early this month when the two countries pledged to triple bilateral trade to a target of $100 billion in the next years from $32.7 billion in 2013.

Energy-hungry Turkey is dependent on Russian oil and gas supplies.

Davutoglu said the markets now reached a more stable state compared to a few days ago when the Turkish lira hit record lows amid the collapse of the Russian ruble and tensions between Ankara and the EU over the mass arrests of journalists last weekend.

The lira struck a low in value of 2.41 lira to the dollar and 3.03 to the euro breaking through the crucial 3.0 barrier.

On Thursday the currency rallied strengthening to 2.32 lira per dollar and 2.87 to per euro.

Putin meanwhile tried to quell fears of economic collapse and vowed rapid recovery from the worst financial crisis of his rule.

Speaking at an annual news conference the Russian leader said that the economic downturn will last two years at most and promised to support the poorest section of the population.

He however indicated that the economic gloom has not swayed his stance on Ukraine.

Following the ruble's record fall in value reaching 60 percent since the beginning of the year Putin assured Russians that the economic downturn would last two years at most.

'It goes without saying that a way out of this situation is inevitable' he said promising to 'focus attention on helping people who need it most.'

He added that efforts by the central bank and government including a record hike of the key interest rate and spending billions to stabilize the ruble have been 'absolutely reasonable and in the right direction' although they could have come quicker.

The Russian president had remained silent earlier this week on the ruble crash which led Russians to rush to exchange their savings and splurge at stores to dump their devaluing national currency ahead of expected price hikes.

The marathon news conference held in a trade center in central Moscow saw Putin face hundreds of journalists from all over Russia. Over 1200 had signed up to attend according to the Kremlin.