Turkey, IMF draft new economic deal
Turkey and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have completed talks on a new three-year stand-by deal supported by a loan of $10 billion, Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan has said.
Turkey and the IMF have been holding talks for several weeks on a new three-year economic programme to succeed the current $16-billion deal that expires in February.
“The discussions were completed last night,” Babacan said in a joint news conference with the chief of the IMF’s Turkey desk, Reza Moghadam, in Ankara on Tuesday.
“The amount foreseen for use from the IMF in the framework of the new stand-by agreement is $10 billion.”
Moghadam said the agreement was subject to approval by the IMF executive board.
New strategy
The new economic strategy is based on targets of 5% growth each year between 2005 and 2007 and single-digit inflation, projected at 8% next year, 5% in 2006 and 4% in 2007, Babacan said.
The programme also foresees far-reaching structural reforms in the fields of social security and tax collection and in the banking sector, he added.