Turkey completes IMF stand-by successfully for first time
Posted by meb at May 12th, 2008
Turkey has successfully completed an International Monetary Fund (IMF) stand-by program for the first time. The program was completed on May 10. Turkey had previously signed 19 IMF stand-by agreements and these initiatives were all cancelled before the programs expired. The program that was completed on Saturday was actually an extension of the previous agreement.
Turkey’s first IMF stand-by program was launched on Jan. 1, 1961, the same year its relations with the EU began, and ended at the end of the same year on Dec. 31. On March 30, 1962, Turkey signed another stand-by agreement with the IMF. However, that agreement lasted even less than a year and was cancelled on Dec. 31, 1962.
The third stand-by agreement had been signed on Feb. 15, 1963 and lasted around nine months. The following stand-by program started on Feb. 15, 1964 and ended on Dec. 31, 1964. Between 1961 and 1970 Turkey launched a stand-by agreement each year and all of them terminated before the end of the same year. Turkey did not sign a stand-by agreement with the IMF between 1970 and 1978. After that, it again signed two agreements between 1978 and 1980; each lasted less than a year.
On June 18, 1980, Turkey signed another agreement for a program that lasted until June 17, 1983, which was the longest-lasting program to that date. In 1983 Turkey launched another IMF-backed stand-by program that lasted one year. Between 1984 and 1994 no new stand-by agreement was signed between the IMF and Turkey. The program, which started on July 8, 1994, ended on Sept. 26 1995.
Turkey carried out the 17th stand-by program between 1999 and 2002. Finally, Turkey launched its 18th stand-by program on Feb. 4, 2002. In January 2005, a month before the end of the ongoing program, the due date of the program was extended to May 10, 2008 with a 19th stand-by agreement.
IMF to launch post-program monitoring
The IMF will launch post-program monitoring immediately after the end of the stand-by program. In this post-program monitoring, an IMF delegation will visit Turkey periodically, as in a normal stand-by program, and prepare reports about Turkey’s economic situation and performance. But Turkey will be without access to credit. These reports will be monitored by international investors and corporations and they will play an important part in determining Turkey’s financial credibility.
IMF completes Turkey review, freeing up $3.65 billion loan
On Friday the IMF completed its final review of Turkey’s $10 billion stand-by loan facility that is now drawing to a close after three years. Officials in Ankara have said there will be no new program and that the country no longer needs IMF financing.
Approval by the IMF’s executive board means Turkey gains access to a $3.65 billion loan under the program, which expires Saturday.
The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said Turkey had achieved considerable economic success by following advice from the fund. “Looking ahead, Turkey’s challenge will be to press forward on the reform path to further entrench macroeconomic stability and decisively lift potential growth to facilitate convergence toward EU income levels,” he said in a statement.
But he added that in response to inflationary pressures, Turkey’s central bank should tighten monetary policies “and avoid lifting them until inflation is back on a declining path.”
Last week Turkey presented a five-year economic plan that includes a primary budget surplus of 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year, falling to 2.4 percent of GDP by 2012.
source: AP via Today’s Zaman
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