In the rapidly growing Turkish economy, the ratio of current account deficit to gross national product became 6.4 percent in 2005. The rapid increase in the share of long-term capital inflows and direct investments in the financing of the current account deficit, which is expanding due to high growth rates, is deemed favorable for the sustainability of the deficit. As it is known, in parallel to changing interest rate policies of Bank of Japan, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank in recent periods, uncertainty about interest rates has increased globally, leading to capital outflows from emerging markets. Nevertheless, reinforced macroeconomic fundamentals, tight monetary and fiscal polices, the shock-absorbing function of the floating exchange rate regime, the reduced ratio of short-term foreign credits to international reserves and disciplined implementation of the current economic program minimize the adverse effects of outflows on the Turkish economy. 2  BIS Review 68/2006  The rapid rise in the consumption tendency despite the relatively low increase in disposable income increases the indebtedness of households. Therefore, close monitoring of likely risks for the household that may arise from the increasing demand for housing loans, which is still low compared to other countries, is of great importance. Indeed, as seen in (other) country experiences, asset prices can rise rapidly in periods of expansion to be followed by slumps in housing prices, which would simultaneously push down the value of the collateral for the financial sector and decrease household wealth.
c.  Highlights of development in delivery channels and payment system infrastructure  As banks serve various segments of the economy, it is important to widen the accessibility of e-payment services through various channels to cater to the needs of different consumer groups. The industry should continuously identify and address any gaps in the current e-payment infrastructure and services by improving their product offerings. For instance, building on the wider penetration of online banking services which now have a total of 17 million subscribers (of whom 7.5 million are active users), banks have also provided alternatives to consumers to conduct electronic funds transfers using either the Interbank GIRO (IBG) or the Instant Interbank Fund Transfer (IBFT) via 9,410 ATMs and 2,475 selfservice Internet kiosks nationwide. While the fees imposed for IBG and IBFT are differentiated, consumers are given choices that suit their preference. To promote infrastructure sharing and reduce cost and enhance online bill payment facilities in Malaysia, there is currently an ongoing industry initiative led by the Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (or MyClear in short) to develop a national bill payment scheme known as JomPAY. JomPAY leverages on shared infrastructure to significantly expand the scope and utility of bill payment facilities. At present, customers can only use the online channel of a bank to make bill payments to merchants who maintain banking relationships with the same bank.