[stop-imf] Turkey Passes Law To Deregulate Tobacco Industry

[Robert Weissman]

IMF threats override domestic opposition to tobacco industry
privatization, a move sure to increase smoking rates and preventable death.



Turkey Passes Law To Deregulate Tobacco Industry
Source: AP, 2002-01-04ANKARA (AP)--

Turkey's parliament overrode a
presidential veto and ratified a law to deregulate the country's
tobacco industry, meeting a demand by the International Monetary
Fund.

The bill, approved late Thursday, ends a state monopoly over the
tobacco industry, stops subventions to growers and aims to prevent
overproduction.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had vetoed the same bill in July on the
grounds that it made no provisions for thousands of tobacco growers.
But lawmakers debated and passed the bill for a second time without
making any changes to its original form. Sezer is now forced to
approve the law.

Deregulating the tobacco industry was part of a package of reforms
pledged to the IMF, which has already committed $19 billion in loans
to help Turkey battle a crisis that saw the currency slide and
unemployment soar. The IMF is expected to offer another $10 billion
later this month.

Turkey has promised the IMF it will use the funds to back a tough
economic program to cut public spending, shrink the state's role in
the economy, and complete the restructuring of a banking sector
whose flaws were a key cause of the crisis.

The government hopes the plan will boost growth to 5% this year. The
economy was expected to contract by up to 8% in 2001.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires  04-01-02