IMF deal unlikely, business leader says

Bloomberg

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"It’s not certain whether there will be a signing with the IMF" after local elections on March 29, Özdebir said late Wednesday. "I don’t believe an agreement will be signed because any post-election agreement will not be for less than three years. So, since that would coincide with the next general election, the government will not want it."

Speaking on the money repatriated under a tax amnesty, Özdebir said the sum from the asset amnesty will "probably reach about 20 billion Turkish liras ($11.5 billion)."

"If that money comes in, then I think the government will see it as a replacement for an IMF accord," he continued. "The inflow on net errors and omissions" in the current-account balance "has reached $12 billion. Even if all this strengthens the government’s hand, its impact is very different to that of an IMF accord."

"As far as managing the crisis goes, the government has completely failed the test," Özdebir said. "They have been very late in diagnosing the problem and in implementing measures we have been talking about for a year."

"The government should take steps to encourage domestic demand rather than putting the election before the nation’s future," he added. "Firms in difficulty should be given access to credit and the IMF uncertainty should be resolved one way or another."