Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Saturday defied his critics, insisting the cabinet would neither quit nor be reshuffled, as the country's financial crisis worsened following the floating of the Turkish Lira, reported AFP.
"Rumors spread by certain circles that the government should quit are far from the truth and a change in the cabinet is out of the question," Ecevit said in a written statement after meeting his two coalition partners.
"Both a change of government and desires to create an atmosphere of early elections at a time of economic bottleneck would do the country great harm," the statement added.
Ecevit's remarks came in response to angry calls from the opposition and trade unions for a cabinet shake-up, with some calling on the government to resign.
The criticism has mounted since Ankara's decision Thursday to abandon a currency peg in the face of a grave cash shortage rocking the money markets, said AFP.
Meanwhile, the Herald Tribune reported Saturday that US President George W. Bush telephoned Ecevit on Friday to offer his support for the country's efforts to cope with its second economic crisis in three months.
According to the report, Bush expressed support for Turkey's economic reforms and discussed the importance of continuing to work with the International Monetary Fund.
The crisis led the Turkish lira to slump 36.1 percent against the dollar in two days, following a dispute between Ecevit and President Ahmet Sezer.
Ecevit stressed in the statement that the raging financial crisis made it even more important that his three-way coalition stay in power.
"The government is determined to continue its work in harmony. Measures to put the economy back on track will be implemented at the beginning of the week," he said.
According to the Tribune, prices for cigarettes and bread were up in some Istanbul neighborhoods, and manufacturers were warning of price increases for imported goods. Turkey’s banks also were hard hit by the depreciation of the lira, which meant that their foreign debts were suddenly more expensive.
The IMF bailed out Turkey with a $7.5 billion loan in December after a retreat by foreign investors threatened the country's year-old economic reform package, which has stressed curbing inflation and government spending.
Analysts were quoted by the daily as saying the damage caused by the latest crisis and the devaluation of the currency would continue until strong measures were announced by the government, which was holding talks Friday with IMF officials.
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz made a tentative step Friday when he said the government had agreed to make unspecified changes in its economic policies, said the Tribune.
"As a government, we have already reached agreement on the need for a re-ordering in economic management," Yilmaz told the state-run Anatolia news agency.
But Yilmaz did not go far enough to satisfy the financial markets, which continued to attack the lira, concluded the paper – Albawaba.com
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