Will Turkey be lending the IMF or is it going to be the other way around?

While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has yet to request the $5 billion payment pledged by the Turkish government in 2013, a media report reveals that the government may sign a new agreement with the IMF in order to receive consultancy assistance. According to a report published by the Taraf daily on Tuesday, Turkey may seek IMF aid after the general election in order to eliminate risks arising from unfavorable currency fluctuations and losses in the country's stock exchange, Borsa İstanbul (BİST). The report states that the undersecretary of the Treasury, the Central Bank of Turkey and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) have prepared best, average and worst case scenarios, gauging the risks and challenges against banks and companies in the county. In the worst-case outlook, the government is expected to sign a new agreement with the IMF, without requesting a loan, in order to eliminate challenges after the general election scheduled to take place on June 7. The government has long been voicing the notion that the Turkish economy has been strengthened so much during the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) administration that the country is now able to lend money to the IMF after many years of dependence on the IMF for financial aid. However, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said in late December that Turkey has not loaned any money to the IMF. Following the payment of the nation's final loan installment to the IMF, the government said it pledged $5 billion to the IMF to be used for the European sovereign debt crisis in May 2013. Since then, government officials have been underlining Turkey's new position as a potential lender to the IMF at every possible occasion in order to emphasize the developments made during the years the AK Party has been in power.