Turkey, which suffers from chronic inflation, will soon introduce banknotes worth 20 million lira (14.1 euros, $12.5), the central bank said on Wednesday, October 31. At present the biggest note is worth 10 million Turkish Lira, which entered circulation in November 1999.
The central bank statement did not say when the new bills would be distributed. Unrelenting inflation has been a major problem for the Turkish economy over the past two decades. Long-standing financial woes burst into a full-blown crisis last February, sending the economy into one of the worst recessions in Turkey's modern history.
The economy contracted by 8.5 percent in the first half of 2001, and the lira has lost more than 50 percent of its value against the dollar since the February shake-up. Retail inflation rose by 61.8 percent in September compared to the same month last year. — (AFP, Ankara)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
