Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey has the ability to overcome recent fluctuations in economy, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The government has initiated a deep-rooted reform process three and a half years ago and Turkey has reached its targets for a sustainable growth, Erdogan told a meeting of the Investment Advisory Council of Turkey in the country's largest city of Istanbul.

"We are determined to accomplish our economic transformation program," Erdogan said.

He also vowed not to make any concession from the current monetary policy, which covers from 2007 to 2013.

Erdogan's remarks came as the Turkish currency New Turkish Lira (YTL), which has devaluated by about 23.5 percent since May, gained ground this week after the Turkish Central Bank intervened in foreign exchange market.

Through the means of "direct sale" and raising borrowing rate from 15 percent to 17.25 percent, the Central Bank successfully curbed the economic fluctuation, which has plagued the government since May.

Turkey's economy has grown by nearly 8 percent on average in the last four years, and it reduced inflation to 7.72 percent in 2005 after a deep financial crisis in 2001.

Under a three-year program backed by a loan of 10 billion U.S. dollars from the International Monetary Fund, the Turkish government aims to bring inflation down to 5.0 percent this year and to 4.0 percent in 2007.

However, annual inflation jumped to 9.86 percent in May, 2006, causing concerns over the government's year-end target.

"We are aware of the importance of adaptation of economies to rapidly changing conditions in our globalized world. Therefore, we are trying to do what it takes to preserve dynamic structure of our economy," Erdogan said.

Source: Xinhua