An International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said Monday, May 27, that Turkey's economic recovery program was progressing well, but called upon the Turkish government to reinforce the country’s troubled banking system and move forward with its privatization program.
"The government's program is performing well," said Juha Kahkonen, head of an IMF delegation that ended two weeks of talks assessing the progress of Turkey's IMF-backed austerity plan. "There has been less progress in privatization but we expect the pace of privatization to pick up later in the year."
The IMF granted Turkey $16 billion in loans after the Turkish economy shrunk 9.4 percent last year. The loan made Turkey the IMF's largest borrower with a total of $31 billion, according to Associated Press. In return, the government has pledged to cut back its public sector, privatize key industries and reduce Turkey's debt.
In addition, the government is under pressure to reform the banking system by raising the capital of weaker banks. Turkey's government has bailed out some 20 troubled banks in the past couple of years. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
