[stop-imf] IMF deal with Turkey - and protest

[robert weissman]

1. IMF board approves $10 bln standby loan for Turkey
2. Baykal blasts gov't on privatization, IMF policies
('Even Italy has limited the percentage of foreign ownership in the
country. Is Italy right, or is Turkey?' says the CHP leader)
3. Protest Against I.M.F. In Ankara
("IMF revealed that it despises labor through statements of its first
managing director.")

UPDATE 2-IMF board approves $10 bln standby loan for Turkey
Wed May 11, 2005 06:39 PM ET

(Recasts; adds details from IMF release)

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on
Wednesday it has approved a new, $10 billion loan agreement for Turkey
and made $837.5 million immediately available to the country.

The three-year standby deal succeeds a previous accord that expired in
February and marks the second phase in the country's recovery from a
financial crisis that peaked in 2001.

Turkey inked the new funding program in December, but the IMF withheld
its approval due to delays in tax, banking and social security reforms.

The standby deal is designed to further entrench economic reforms and
boost foreign direct investment in Turkey, which is vying for membership
in the European Union, the IMF said.

"The aim of the new program is to create conditions for sustained growth
that continue to raise living standards in Turkey and reduce
unemployment, and facilitate convergence toward the EU economy," said
Reza Moghadam, a senior advisor in the IMF's European Department.

"The last program made great strides in terms of improving the health of
the financial sector. The new program aims to achieve further
improvements in the supervisory and regulatory framework and to
accelerate asset recovery," Moghadam told reporters on a conference call.

The IMF said Turkey has agreed to maintain a 6.5 percent primary surplus
target, which excludes interest on a debt pile that stood at some $240
billion at the end of March.

It said meeting the target, expressed as a percentage of gross national
product, would help Turkey "steadily reduce the public debt and help
contain the current account deficit."

The fund also agreed to delay about $3.8 billion of Turkey's debt
repayments to the fund arising in 2006. Moghadam said the one-year
extension was meant to permit "a more smooth debt repayment schedule."

-----------

Baykal blasts gov't on privatization, IMF policies
Wednesday, May 11, 2005


'Even Italy has limited the percentage of foreign ownership in the
country. Is Italy right, or is Turkey?' says the CHP leader

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

   Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal
blasted the government yesterday on the privatization of state
institutions and the limitation of foreign investment in Turkey,
reported the Anatolia news agency.

   =EF=BF=BDI'm not criticizing privatization from an ideological point of =
view.
It is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo=C4=9Fan who is acting with ideologic=
al
motives,=EF=BF=BD said Baykal at his party's parliamentary group meeting, i=
n
response to Erdo=C4=9Fan's comments on the CHP's privatization policy.

   Baykal said Erdo=C4=9Fan is trying to privatize companies that reflect t=
he
spirit of the Turkish public, such as the partially state-owned Ere=C4=9Fli
Iron and Steelworks (Erdemir).

   Baykal said the CHP is not against privatizing state-owned companies
but that what they are against is selling those companies to foreigners.
=EF=BF=BDEven Italy has limited the percentage of foreign ownership in the
country. Is Italy right, or is Turkey?=EF=BF=BD

   Baykal criticized the government for not objecting to the
International Monetary Fund's (IMF) demand to reduce the minimum wage.
=EF=BF=BDIt's hard to understand IMF policies. They do not recover money
siphoned from bankrupt banks but rather say the minimum wage is higher
than it should be.=EF=BF=BD


-------

TurkishPress.com
Protest Against I.M.F. In Ankara
Published: 5/11/2005

ANKARA (AA) - Mustafa Basoglu, chairman of Labor Union of Health
Workers, criticized International Monetary Fund (IMF) First Managing
Director Anne Krueger by saying, ''IMF revealed that it despises labor
through statements of its first managing director.''
      A group of members of the Labor Union of Health Workers laid a
black wreath in front of the IMF's office in Ankara today (Tuesday).
      Speaking on behalf of the group, Basoglu said, ''Krueger said that
employers refrain from employing more workers due to high amount of
minimum wage in Turkey. Her statement is totally baseless. IMF does not
have any intention for development of Turkey. In fact, it is trying to
cause a financial decline. Krueger speaks as if she is a lawyer of
employers. IMF revealed that it despises labor through statements of its
first managing director.''
      (UK-MS)

2005-05-10