IMF Clears An Extra 661 Million Dollars For Turkey

WASHINGTON, July 30 (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund said Friday it cleared a 661 million dollar disbursement for Turkey as part of an economic aid package approved in February 2002.
The IMF Executive Board said the organization completed the eighth review of Turkey`s economic performance under the program and agreed to the new aid, bringing total disbursements to about 17 billion dollars.
The IMF said it approved the new aid even though Turkey had "a small deviation" from one of the economic targets set under the plan.
The IMF agreed in February 2002 to provide Turkey with a stand-by credit line to deal with successive financial crises. In exchange, Ankara agreed to take drastic measures under a program aimed at returning to firm growth over three years.
The aid package which is based on a basket of currencies and calculated in what the IMF calls special drawing rights, was worth 16 billion dollars at the time, but based on current exchange rates is now worth some 19 billion dollars.