Turkey is likely to seek a standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a three-year period once the current funding programme expires, Economy Minister Ali Babacan said on Sunday.
The current programme, which has helped pull the country from a deep financial crisis in 2001, ends in February 2005.
Aware of concerns in the financial markets about the scale of looming debt repayments, the government has been edging towards a fresh standby deal with a loan facility but has yet to make a final decision.
The alternative would be a non-lending monitoring agreement.
"The standby deal for which we are considering starting negotiations (with the IMF) will take our three-year economic programme as its basis," the Radikal daily quoted Babacan as saying.
"Although we will make the final decision later (on the standby deal), we expect it to be a three-year programme."
On Friday, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that Turkey was ready to start talks with the IMF on a possible new standby deal and officials said it would probably total at least $10 billion.
Turkey faces debt repayments to the IMF totalling $26.3 billion between now and 2008.
The government has announced an inflation target of 8 percent for 2005 declining to 4 percent in 2007. It has also agreed a public sector primary surplus target - which excludes debt repayments - of 6.5 percent in its new economic programme.
The inflation target for 2004 is 12 percent. Data last week showed consumer inflation for July up 9.57 percent year-on-year.
An IMF team discussed the government's new programme in Ankara last week.
Industrial output
Turkish industrial production rose 15.7 percent year-on-year in June, beating market expectations, official data showed on Sunday.
Turkey targets five percent economic growth by year end under its $19 billion loan pact with the International Monetary Fund.
Output in the first six months of the year grew by 13.6 percent, the State Statistics Institute said on its website.
The manufacturing sector again led the growth, jumping 16.8 percent. Mining output expanded by 12.4 percent, while utilities grew by 7.1 percent.
Industrial output saw a rise of 16.5 percent in May, also outstripping expectations.
The output data is a key indicator for growth in Turkey. Industry is seen powering an economic recovery from a 2001 financial crisis and subsequent recession.
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