Turkey said Saturday that inflation in 2003 had been 18.4 percent, below the 20 percent year-end target set in an IMF-backed economic recovery programme.
Consumer prices rose by 0.9 percent in December from the previous month, bringing inflation to 18.4 in the past 12 months, the statistics institute said.
Wholesale prices increased by 0.6 percent in December compared to November - up 13.9 percent over the past 12 months and also below the IMF-backed target of 16.5 percent, it added.
This was the second year in a row that Turkey beat its inflation projection. In 2002, the country brought inflation down to 29.7 percent from 68.5 percent in 2001, beating its year-end target of 35 percent.
Cutting chronic inflation is a key element of a 16-billion-dollar stand-by deal Turkey signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after a severe financial crisis in 2001 plunged the country into its worst recession since World War II.
In return for the loan, Ankara promised to implement drastic reforms under a three-year austerity programme aimed at helping economic growth.
A wave of twin suicide car bomb attacks against Jewish and British targets in Istanbul in November had raised concerns of a possible financial fallout, but both the Turkish stock exchange and the currency has held steady.
Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan recently assured investors that the economy is strong enough to withstand shocks and pledged that the government would continue to implement IMF-backed policies.
Ankara is planning to bring inflation down to 12 percent in 2004 and then to single digits in 2005.
The government has also announced that it has started technical prepartions to remove six zeroes from the embattled Turkish lira at the end of this year.
Currently, a US dollar buys about 1,400,000 Turkish lira and a euro about 1,790,000 lira.
The smallest coin today in Turkey is worth 25,000 lira, while the biggest banknote is of 20 million lira (11 euros or 14 dollars).
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