The IMF is likely to send a new mission to Turkey in December to assess the needs of the ailing economy in the wake of the September terrorist attacks, Deputy IMF Managing Director Anne Kreuger said Sunday, November 18.
"There is general support for sending a mission to Turkey, which would probably go in early in December and there of course, we would be looking at Turkey's financing needs," Kreuger said at the conclusion of meetings here of IMF and World Bank policymakers.
Turkey indicated Friday it would implement new economic reform measures to help revive the economy, which has been in crisis since February, and these would help qualify for additional IMF aid.
The Turkish press speculated the IMF would give the Turkish government an additional nine billion dollars in financial assistance. Already in May, the IMF agreed to boost by eight billion dollars its stand-by credit line to Turkey.
Ankara has been in the grip of a severe economic crisis since February, when a crisis in the banking sector pushed the government to abandon the currency peg system which was key to the anti-inflation program upheld by the IMF. — (AFP, Ottawa)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
