ANKARA, Aug 10 (AFP) - Turkey is likely to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a new three-year stand-by deal in September, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said on Tuesday.
"Since August is a holiday (for the IMF), a delegation can possibly come to Turkey in September and the negotiations can start," Sener told CNN-Turk television.
He declined to specify the amount of the loan which Turkey would request.
The current stand-by deal was signed in February 2002 when Turkey ran to the Fund for help after a severe financial crisis plunged the country into its worst recession since World War II.
In return for the loan, Ankara has implemented far-reaching reforms, which have helped it stabilize its troubled banking system, decrease chronic inflation and boost growth.
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 of signing, but based on current exchange rates is now worth some 19 billion dollars.
The deal expires in February 2005.
Turkish business groups have called for the renewal of the stand-by arrangement, worried that the government could loosen tight economic measures without international scrutiny.
Sener said the planned new three-year program would also help Turkey come closer to the economic norms of the European Union, which it is seeking to join.