WASHINGTON D.C., Feb 5 (A.A) - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli and Mesut Yilmaz said on Tuesday that the coalition parties had full support in the economic program which aimed to better the economy.
The coalition leaders sent a letter to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Horst Koehler together with the letter of intent.
The three leaders, in the letter, said that after a very difficult year, the Turkish economy was beginning to show concrete and promising signs of recovery.
The letter said, ''the letter of intent presents a medium-term strategy which has the full support of the coalition parties and which is designed to take Turkey forward on a path of rapid, sustainable and equitable growth.''
In the letter, the leaders thanked IMF for their support to Turkey.
The letter is as follows:
''After a very difficult year, the Turkish economy is beginning to show concrete and promising signs of recovery. The economic program that we have been implementing with your support is producing results. The structural reforms which we are continuing to enact are creating the legal and institutional infrastructure needed to realize Turkey's considerable growth potential. Strict fiscal discipline and a freely floating exchange rate have facilitated the re-establishment of macroeconomic equilibrium, and the ratio of debt to GDP and to exports is starting to decline.
The September 11 tragedy caused a serious threat to our progress. Interest rates rose, our currency lost value, foreign investors delayed their decisions, and our financing plan for 2002 was called into question. We responded quickly and decisively. The year 2002 budget proposed to Parliament in October and now passed further raised the primary fiscal surplus to 6.5 percent of GDP. We established an accelerated schedule for further structural reforms, including strong measures to support private sector development, improve the effectiveness of public administration, reform the tax system, and complete the ongoing strengthening of the financial sector. Your action in support of our program, including your intention to seek IMF Executive Board's approval of our request for 10 billion U.S. dollars in new financing for the year 2002, is critical and has helped us reestablish market confidence. Our determined policies, together with the support of the Bretton Woods institutions, are now beginning to show results.
Attached is a new Letter of Intent prepared by Minister Derviþ and Governor Serdengeçti. It summarizes the government's economic objectives, as well as the policy measures we are going to take in 2002 and beyond. It presents a medium-term strategy which has the full support of the coalition parties and which is designed to take Turkey forward on a path of rapid, sustainable and equitable growth. We value the International Monetary Fund's continuing support, and we trust that our joint efforts will allow Turkey to achieve the ambitious but necessary economic and social goals embodied in our economic program.''