The Turkish military could review its arms program after a government decision to float the lira caused it to plunge against the dollar, press reports said on Tuesday, March 13, quoting the army's top commander.
"The Turkish lira has lost 30 percent of its value. This will require a revision of budget figures. In that case, the priority of some (military) projects could be reviewed," army chief-of-staff Huseyin Kivrikoglu was quoted as saying in the liberal daily Radikal.
Kivrikoglu ruled out cancellation of any projects, but said it was likely that projects could be delayed. "A project that could be finished in three years may be completed in four years," he said.
On February 22, the Ankara government scrapped a pegged exchange rate and let the lira float after a liquidity squeeze, triggered by fears of political instability, had wreaked havoc on the markets.
The lira's flotation, which saw the currency plunge around 30 percent against the dollar, broke the backbone of an ambitious anti-inflation drive. The government is now preparing a new program with revised macro-economic targets and anti-inflation policy.
Turkey, which has the biggest army in NATO after the United States, its main arms supplier, intended to spend some $150 billion to modernize its forces over the next 30 years.
Among the most notable projects are a tender for joint production of 1,000 battle tanks, estimated to be worth some seven billion dollars, and a four-billion dollar tender for 145 combat helicopters. Ankara also decided in November to begin talks with the US constructor Boeing for the purchase of at least six early-warning aircraft, estimated to be worth around $1.5 billion. — (AFP, Ankara)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
