World Bank's Loans To Be Used Next Year

ANKARA - Most of the loans of the World Bank will be used next year, as the economic criteria has not been fulfilled completely.
Turkey will receive 5 billion U.S. dollar as programme loan from the bank for three years within the framework of the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS).
Officials told the A.A correspondent that besides the specific conditions related to the loans, Turkey's starting the meetings with the IMF and getting approval of IMF would be an important criterium for the release of the loans.
A total of 375 million U.S. dollars of the second tranche worth of 760 million U.S. dollars of Economic Reform Loan (ERL) is expected to be released to Turkey by the end of March 2003, but privatization should be speeded up and energy market should be privatized to get this loan.
Turkey will ask for the World Bank to extend period to get 1 billion 350 million U.S. dollars of Programmatic Financial and Public Sector Adjustment Loan (PFPSAL-2), 450 million U.S. dollars of second tranche and 450 million U.S. dollars of third tranche, if the necessary conditions cannot be fulfiled till the end of the year.
The first tranche of the loan was received in August.
Meanwhile, 100 million U.S. dollars of second tranche of Agriculture Reform Implementation Project (ARIP) is expected to be used in the first half of 2003, if the developments in the implementation of agriculture reform satisfies the World Bank.