Turkey to sign new IMF deal next month

The new agreement will supplant the existing letter of intent with the IMF, Economy Minister Ali Babacan said late Wednesday evening.
“We will sign a letter of intent after December 1, but how long after I cannot say at the moment,” Babacan said. “We will do it as soon as we finish our work.”
The finishing touches were being put to the details of the letter of intent, with issues such as tax reform in particular being worked on, the Minister said.
Currently, Turkey has a $19 billion stand by agreement with the IMF, which is due to expire in February of next year.
According to Babacan, Turkey will see inflation fall to five percent by 2006 and economic growth of five percent in both 2006 and 2007.