ANKARA - Turkey is working to fulfill conditions sought by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the approval of a new stand-by deal and any worries over delays in the process are misplaced, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.
"Turkey is continuing the preparations for the stand-by deal ... There is no room for anxiety," Erdogan told reporters.
The prime minister explained that a draft bill reforming the country's tax administration, which the IMF wants to see adopted before approving the new stand-by deal, was already being debated in a parliamentary commission.
Two other IMF-sought bills aimed at overhauling the country's financial services sector and its troubled social security system will be sent to parliament soon, he said.
Officials had earlier said that Ankara is planning to meet all required legislative steps by mid-April.
Turkey and the IMF completed talks in December on the terms of a three-year stand-by deal worth 10 billion dollars aimed at strengthening the recovery of the Turkish economy.
The IMF executive board is awaiting Ankara's fulfilment of the outstanding conditions in order to convene and approve the arrangement, which would replace a three-year 16-billion-dollar deal that expired in February.
IMF aid has helped Turkey haul its economy out of its worst recession since World War II, triggered by two severe financial crises in 1999 and 2001.
IMF officials have said that the new program, if implemented properly, would allow Turkey to forego further financial support from the international lender.
03/23/2005 14:42 GMT