Babacan: Last Six Zero Of TL Will Be Removed

State Minister Ali Babacan said that preparations were under way to remove the last 6 zeros from Turkish Lira on January 1, 2005. Babacan said that the government aimed at decreasing the inflation rate to one-digit-numbers by 2005 and the practice of removing 6 zeros from TL would go hand in hand with this policy. Babacan further said that once this change was accomplished, new and old TL would be used simultaneously for a while. However Babacan did not make any statement on what the name of the new currency will be or whose picture it will bear.The State minister said, “The motion on removing 6 zeros from TL is ready. It will be forwarded first to the cabinet and then to Parliament. The motion was prepared in away to accomplish this change on January 1, 2005.”Tuzmen: Removing Zeros Mean Nothing without Decreasing InflationFollowing a meeting that he attended in Istanbul on Thursday, State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said, “In the case of the Latin America we viewed this: Unless you decrease inflation, removing last a few zeros from the currency means nothing. The important thing is to attain one-digit inflation values. Only then you will be able to remove those zeros irreversibly."�