IMF: No sign Turkey considering asking fund for financial aid
ISTANBUL
Turkey has not asked for any financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the fund said in a statement.
The IMF statement came after media reports that claimed Ankara was seeking funding amid a severe hit on the local currency.
Late on Aug. 7, in the statement to Bloomberg News, the IMF said it “received no indication from the Turkish authorities that they are contemplating a request for financial assistance.”
On its most recent Staff Report on Turkey related to the 2018 Article IV Consultation, the IMF called on the authorities to tighten policies and address internal and external imbalances.
Meanwhile, the lira weakened against the dollar on Aug. 8 again, hit by uncertainty about whether a meeting between Turkish and U.S. officials could heal a wide diplomatic rift.
A Turkish delegation will meet with top officials from the U.S. State Department on Aug. 8, part of a visit to Washington this week to address friction caused by Ankara’s trial of an American evangelical pastor.
The lira stood at 5.2880 against the dollar in the afternoon of Aug. 8, more than 1 percent weaker on the day. It had gained on Aug. 7 on reports the delegation would visit Washington.
The currency has fallen some 27 percent this year and plunged as much as 5.5 percent on Aug. 6 to 5.4250 per dollar, an all-time low and its biggest intraday drop in nearly a decade.
That decline came after Washington said it was reviewing access to the U.S. market for Turkey’s exports.
