Turkey 'eager' to sign IMF deal, says gov't spokesman

Turkey is eager to sign a deal with the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, a Turkish government spokesman said on Monday.
After the meeting of the Council of Ministers, government spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek told reporters that they deemed 2010 as a better year for Turkey. "We will probably overcome negative impacts of the economic crisis and reach important goals in 2010," he said.
Çiçek said, despite a remarkable drop in export figures in many countries, Turkey's exports amounted to more than a $100 billion in 2009.
Responding to a question about a possible deal with the IMF, Çiçek said, "We want to sign a deal with the IMF. Talks are under way. We hope that talks will yield favorable results soon."
In regard to Turkey's EU accession process, Çiçek said, they believed that Turkey's membership would benefit both, Turkey and the EU. "There is no change in our view and determination on the matter. We are resolute to continue our determination on the process in 2010 as well," he added.
Lira, stocks rally
The Turkish Lira headed for its longest winning streak since July 2003 and stocks reached a two-year high on speculation the government may soon agree to terms of the IMF loan.
The lira added 0.2 percent to 1.4705 per dollar as of 11:23 a.m. in Istanbul, giving the currency a 3.8 percent appreciation in its ninth day of advances. The ISE 100 stock index added 0.8 percent to 53,804.85, its highest since Jan. 4, 2008. Yields on benchmark bonds plunged as much as 26 basis points to 8.81 percent, and were last at 8.91 percent, which would be the lowest close in a month, according to an ABN Amro index.
Turkey will invite an IMF team to the capital, Ankara, this week for final negotiations on an accord for a new loan of between $20 billion and $25 billion, Star newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.
“We would say that the country is one step closer to an IMF deal,” Simon Quijano-Evans, head of eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa strategy at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux in Vienna, wrote in a note to clients. “Obviously a great positive for markets as reflected in early lira action.”
Turkey has been talking with the IMF since a previous $10 billion loan program expired in May 2008. The government has resisted borrowing more money from the fund as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan balked at IMF demands for spending restraints, even as the global credit crisis plunged the economy into its deepest recession in half a century. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Dec. 29 that Turkey may sign a two- year IMF accord.