* Central bank may need new tools if necessary - deputy gov
* Banking sector quite strong with high capital
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By Eman Goma
KUWAIT, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Turkey's central bank has to brake credit growth after the country's economy recovered rapidly from the global crisis, and new policy tools may be needed, Deputy Governor Erdem Basci said on Sunday.
"We have to use instruments to slow down (credit) growth," Basci told a financial conference in Kuwait on Sunday.
Last month, Turkey raised its reserve requirement rate for banks, removing around $3 billion of spare cash from the economy as part of a withdrawal of extra stimulus pumped in during the financial crisis.
When asked by Reuters what policy tools the central bank could be using, he said: "We have to have some new instruments if needed (to slow down lending)."
"Now with our exit strategy, we are coming back to pre-Lehman levels. But now we have taken an extra step... We are not paying interest on required cash reserves."
He did not provide more details.
Total bank loans increased 26 percent in August from the same period a year earlier. The rate of loan growth is seen easing as the pace of Turkish economic growth slows.
Basci also said the country's banking system was quite strong and highly capitalised.
"Banks have strong capital. They are liquid and there is demand for credit as well," he said.
The central bank said on Oct. 26 its base scenario was that interest rates would remain at their current levels until late 2011, when it expects a modest hike. It said it expected rates to remain in the single digits.
The central bank left its policy rate unchanged at 7 percent on Oct. 14 as expected, but cut its overnight borrowing rate by a surprisingly large 50 basis points.
(Additional reporting by Diana Elias and Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Martin Dokoupil; Editing by Michael Shields)