Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 26 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /
The dollar rate reduction in Turkey will significantly reduce the expenditures for energy imports into the country, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said on Thursday, Sabah newspaper reported.
If the dollar rate compared to the Turkish lira next year drops to 1.80 lira as the country's central bank forecasts and does not greatly change during the year, the expenditures for energy imports will be reduced by at least 12-13 percent, Yildiz said.
"In this case, we will be able to save around $7 billion for energy imports during the year," Minister said.
Earlier, head of the Turkish Central Bank Erdem Bascı said that the dollar rate in Turkey is projected at 1.80 TRY / USD for next year.
As of September 26, 2013, the dollar rate compared to lira is 2.0034 TRY / USD, while yesterday it was 1.9946 TRY / USD. A year earlier, the country's official exchange rate was set at 1.8119 TRY / USD.
A dollar growth trend next to the Turkish lira has been observed since early summer 2013. The Turkish Economy Ministry told Trend earlier that the reason for the sharp rise in the dollar rate in Turkey is the complex political situation in the region.