Towards 19th Stand-by Deal With I.M.F.

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey, which has signed 18 stand-by agreements with the IMF since 1961, is preparing to make a new stand-by deal without any economic crisis for the first time in its 43-year relationship with the Fund.
     Turkey will sign the 19th stand-by agreement with the IMF in January of 2005. The loan expected to be taken from the IMF between 2005 and 2007 within the framework of the three-year stand-by deal amounts to 10 billion U.S. dollars.
    
     -43-YEAR STAND-BY HISTORY-
    
     Turkey signed its first stand-by agreement with the IMF on January 1st, 1961. This lasted for one year, and ended on December 31st, 1961.
     Turkey's relations with the European Union (EU) began in the same days when Turkey started to made stand-by deals with the IMF.
     Turkey's second and third stand-by deals also lasted less than a year. The second stand-by agreement was signed on March 30th, 1962 and lasted on December 31st, 1962; while the third was signed on February 15th, 1963 and lasted for only nine months.
     Turkey made its fourth stand-by deal with the IMF on February 15th, 1963. This agreement lasted on December 31st, 1964.
    
     -EVERY YEAR, A NEW STAND-BY-
    
     Turkey made a stand-by deal with the IMF every year, starting in 1961 and ending in 1970.
     Turkey, which suspended its relations with the IMF from 1970 to 1978, also signed one-year stand-by deals with the Fund between 1978 and 1980.
     Turkish government made its longest stand-by agreement with the IMF since 1961 on June 18th, 1980. This agreement ended on June 17th, 1983.
     Turkey again signed one-year stand-by deal with the Fund on 1983.
    
     -STAND-BY SUSPENDED FOR TEN YEARS-
    
     Turkey did not sign any stand-by agreements with the IMF from 1984 to 1994. The stand-by deal made on July 8th, 1994 lasted on September 26th, 1995. Turkey signed its 17th stand-by agreement between 1999 and 2002.
     The 18th stand-by agreement began on February 4th, 2002 and will end on February 4th, 2005. So, a new stand-by is expected to be signed between Turkey and the Fund in January of 2005.
    
     -47 BLN USD FROM IMF IN 43 YEARS-
    
     The stand-by agreements signed by Turkey within 43 years have generally ended with failure, before their duration ends.
     Turkey has taken 47 billion U.S. dollars of loan from the Fund within 43 years. 39 billion of this loan has been used, while 8 billion has not.
    
     -IMF IS TODAY SHOWING TURKEY AS AN EXAMPLE-
    
     Turkey has become a concrete example for the IMF, which has lost its credibility due to the Asian crisis and which has almost bankrupted with its Argentina experience, thanks to Turkey's successful efforts since 2001 to reduce inflation rate and record high growth rate within the scope of the IMF-backed economic program.
     IMF has started to propose foreign exchange rate regime in Turkey to other developing countries, which are currently implementing fixed foreign exchange rate or limited floating exchange rate regimes, since it has seen the success of the free floating exchange rate model in Turkey.
     (BRC-A֩
2004-12-16