IMF director calls Turkey a success story
Posted by meb at April 14th, 2007
Turkey has been congratulated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its economic success, which it believes will continue in the future. “I think Turkey is one of the success stories of recent times in the world economy, and I think we all have to salute and congratulate not only the Turkish authorities but also the Turkish society for having done so, and if you look at the reform agenda of Turkey in recent times, it has been impressive,” said IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato at a Washington press conference on Thursday in response to a question about the possibility of the Turkish economy derailing due to upcoming elections.
He said it was a country that has changed for the better and was facing its challenges. “Elections are a very important and welcome democratic process, but elections have their own dynamics, but that is not only a Turkish characteristic. It happens everywhere,” de Rato said, adding that even during an election campaign the macroeconomic strategy had to be kept in mind by policy makers.
IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said the government had been following “a policy of fiscal stringency responsibility that has been hallmarked by the maintenance of a primary surplus of 6.5 percent of the GDP over the past few years, and that has been accompanied by structural reforms and by improving, notable improvements in inflation performance.”
Lipsky pointed out that there was an IMF program with Turkey in effect this year and that the Turkish authorities had indicated their intention to maintain these broad trends: a primary surplus of 6.5 percent of GDP, continued structural reforms including new progress on social security and pension reforms, and on the part of the central bank. He added that the Turkish authorities had continued to pursue an anti-inflation policy.
“As you may know, there has been a mission in Turkey that in fact issued a statement today that reported on the discussions that have just concluded with the Turkish authorities and that have been successful in reaching understandings about how the program will be implemented in the coming months,” he said, adding that they remained very optimistic about the government’s commitment to appropriate policies within the context of the program.
Lipsky expected this would be another hallmark in Turkey’s improvement sustained over the years: in the context of a political campaign these broad policy outlines that had produced success were continuing and would be maintained in the future.
SOURCE: Today’s Zaman
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