Kemal Dervis, Turkey’s Economy Minister, is confident the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would provide the country with additional loans to fight the severe financial crisis Turkey has been experiencing since February, according to AFP news agency.
The IMF and the World Bank cancelled meetings with Turkish officials last week, in which loans totaling $3.2 billion were to be discussed, due to the insufficient efforts made on the part of the Turkish government to implement economic reforms.
In May, Turkey signed a reform program with the IMF, which included a 40 percent devaluation of the Turkish currency against the US dollar, in addition to the privatization of state-owned enterprises such as Turk Telekom. However, the IMF has critisized Ecevit for not appointing a new management for the telecom company that is entirely free of political affiliations.
Ecevit claims however, that the IMF’s criticism is "unjustified" as Turkey has so far adopted all the legislation and reforms that have been agreed by the two sides. He added that the cancellation of the meetings severely harmed investors confidence, both locally and internationally. The decision to cancel the promised loans has led to a 9.1 percent drop in the Istanbul stock exchange on Friday, July 6, whereas the Turkish lira is further depreciating.
In his trip to Washington last week, Dervis tried to convince international donors that Turkey was committed to economic reforms yet is in dire need of additional funds. — (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
