A work in progress

摘要

Turkey's economy is surging ahead of tough membership negotiations with the EU, but debt problems persist. The Erdogan government has much work to do, Turkey's economy, bolstered by soaring exports, an upsurge in consumer spending, and increasing bonds with the EU, grew 9.8% in 2004, the fastest among the 30 nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This was the country's third consecutive year of robust growth, the OECD reported. This development comes as the country reached a new standby agree-ment with the IMF in mid-April which is expected to be signed in the first half of May. However, questions persist about how the country can handle its continual debt problems and the current account deficit which rose to an estimated $15.6bn in 2004, or 5.2% of the gross national product (GNP), according to the State Planning Organization (DPT).