International Monetary Fund (IMF) official Stanley Fischer has arrived in Ankara for talks on Turkey's continuing economic crisis, at a time when the country is ready with an economic reform plan, said reports.
Ahead of Fischer's visit, said BBC Online, the IMF has been keen to dismiss speculation that the fund is still concerned about the progress of its $8 billion rescue program.
"Don't think that there are serious problems with the program and that Fischer has come to solve them," Michael Deppler, the IMF's European department director, told the Milliyet newspaper on Friday, cited by the BBC.
After arrival, Fischer was equally downbeat.
"We see no major changes taking place in the program... the program has been set, it's being carried out and there are no major changes envisaged," he said.
According to speculation in local media, Fischer is planning to discuss ways of limiting the fluctuation of the Turkish lira.
The lira has lost half its value against the US dollar since Turkey first lurched into crisis in February.
Meanwhile, Turkey's government announced a package of economic measures to ease pressure on the currency and restore confidence in the treasury's ability to repay debt.
Kemal Dervis, the economy minister and chief architect of Turkey's IMF-backed economic recovery program, said Thursday the changes were "technical adjustments" to overcome problems that had beset the program since early July, according to the Associated Press.
The program, backed by $15.7 billion in loans from the IMF and the World Bank, aims to dampen inflation and ease the state out of the economy, said the agency. But disputes within the government have heightened market fears that the government is not fully committed to implementing the program, driving the lira down to some 1.32 million to the dollar and forcing long-term interest rates over 90 percent – Albawaba.com
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