ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's Yapi Kredi Bank YKBNK.IS aims to grow faster than the sector average in all areas this year and wants to open 160 new branches, Chief Executive Officer Tayfun Bayazit said on Monday.

Bayazit told a news conference he expected the sector to see total loan growth of 25 percent this year and 38 percent growth in consumer lending.

Yapi Kredi is owned by Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding KCHOL.IS and Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), which has a presence in several central and eastern European countries.

Koc Chairman Mustafa Koc said the Koc-UniCredit partnership would also consider overseas expansion.

"With UniCredit we are focused just on Turkey. As well as organic growth, if (overseas) opportunities arise we will seriously consider them," he told reporters.

Yapi Kredi, which launched a branch expansion program last July, will open 160 sites this year and aims to have 1,000 by the end of 2009, it said in a statement.

Analysts reckon Yapi Kredi's aggressive branch expansion will swell costs. Lenders are locked in fierce competition as they race to grab market share in the fast-growing European Union candidate country. The economy is seen growing some 5 percent this year.

Interest rates in Turkey are expected to fall as its central bank continues an easing cycle started in September. The bank has cut the benchmark borrowing rate to 15.25 percent, still among the highest in emerging markets.

Shares in Yapi Kredi have lost 14 percent in the past year, compared with a 1 percent rise on the banking index .XBANK. On Monday, its stock rose 1.4 percent, lagging a 3.0 percent rise on the banking index.

(Reporting by Asli Kandemir and Ercan Ersoy; Editing by Paul Bolding and David Hulmes)