Erdogan Predicts No Need For IMF Stand-by Agreement

Erdogan, who is presently in Malaysia, answered journalists’ questions at a press conference, held at a Renaissance Hotel. In response to a statment that Turkey’s domestic and international debt condition was "a disaster," Erdogan states that Turkey’s debt to the IMF was gradually decreasing. Erdogan said that Turkey presently owed $21 billion to the IMF. The prime minister also explained that a $700 million debt to the IMF had been erased as a result of treaties that had been signed prior to the term of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Erdogan stated that Turkey would fulfil its debt obligations to the IMF.

When a journalist asked if Turkey would sign another stand-by agreement with the IMF in 2004, Erdogan responded, "Our primarily goal is to have seriously applied the economic program by the end of 2004 an, after that, to continue on our way under our own efforts, without signing a new stand-by agreement."