Turkey says any IMF deal to be short-term

By Selcuk Gokoluk

ANKARA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Turkish Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Thursday that a possible IMF loan deal to help the country face a global financial crisis will be for a duration of 18 months to 3 years.

Turkish financial markets have long waited for a fresh loan programme to replace the $10 billion accord which expired last May and shore up the $750 billion economy which has slowed sharply under the impact of the global crisis.

However, protracted IMF talks were suspended in January due to disagreements over its terms, raising concerns about whether a deal -- expected at around $25 billion -- will be agreed. Ambivalent comments have come from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has the final say on the fate of the talks, about the likelihood of an agreement.

Analysts say the government may be trying to drag out talks with the Fund in order to avoid having to curtail spending ahead of municipal elections on March 29. Any major IMF stand-by agreement would traditionally be accompanied by strict fiscal conditions.

The IMF has been pushing for tighter fiscal policy and a higher primary surplus while the government has wanted to use IMF money to stimulate economic growth.

In an interview with broadcaster CNBC-e, Simsek said there was no disagreement with the IMF on targets and the contents of the deal and that the outstanding issues were more concerned with technical matters. However, on January 30 Simsek said disagreements were not over minor issues.

'If there is an agreement with the IMF its duration can be a minimum 18 months and it can go up to three years,' Simsek said. Turkey has in the past mostly signed three-year stand-by deals with the IMF.