Grant for IMF ‘should go to small businesses’

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Foundation (KOBİDER) President Nurettin Özgenç has said that he cannot understand how the Turkish government can support the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with $5 billion, when 100,000 Turkish SMEs are waiting for loans.

While Özgenç praised the fact that Turkey’s debt to the IMF had fallen from $23.5 billion to $1.7 billion, he said he was having difficulty understanding the rationale behind loaning the IMF $5 billion.

‘SMEs waiting two years’

“Turkey’s loan to the IMF is like a company that borrows more money to finance its debts,” said Özgenç.
Rather than giving $5 billion to the IMF, the government should have given SMEs loans with low interest rates, because Turkish SMEs have been waiting since November 2010 for a promised 3-4 billion Turkish Liras in loans, Özgenç said, adding that two years have passed since with no action taken on the matter.
The fact that the roles were now reversed and that Turkey no longer needs to beg for money and can lend to the IMF, however, is proof that the economy is strong and the country has grown, he said.