Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said an accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was close and Turkey may receive some 20 to 40 billion U.S. dollars in loans, local newspaper Turkish Daily News reported on Thursday.
"Talks are continuing. The conditions are on the verge of being agreed. There are not many problems remaining. There could be an agreement any moment," the report quoted Erdogan as telling his Party's central executive board Wednesday evening.
This signals an important shift in Erdogan's stance towards the Washington-based fund as previously he slammed IMF for demanding tougher cost cutting measures, said the report.
Turkey's 10 billion dollars loan accord with the IMF expired in May and business leaders have been calling for a fresh agreement to boost the flagging economy.
Turkey and the IMF have been locked in negotiations for fresh funding but disagreement on issues such as spending by municipalities has hampered progress, it said.
Erdogan has said previously the government does not want to sign a new loan accord if the IMF program exerted excessive constraints on budget spending, taxes, economic growth and public investments.
However, Ankara is under increasing pressure to reach an agreement as its economy slows sharply under the influence of the global financial crisis, which has forced Ukraine, Hungary, Iceland and Serbia to seek IMF financial aid.
Source: Xinhua
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