Türkiye plans to sign $10 bln IMF stand-by deal in January

Hurriyet English - The Turkish government has kicked off the process for a precautionary stand-by agreement with the IMF, which will include a loan of at least $10 billion, CNNTurk reported. The Turkish government wants the new deal to be launched in January, and the first post-monitoring by the IMF delegation to be held in April, a date following country's local elections, in order to avert fund's possible restrictions blocking excessive government spending ahead of the local elections, the report also said. Türkiye has been holding talks with the IMF for a potential precautionary stand-by loan to partly address market worries, however the government recently reiterated that it would not sign a deal unless it was flexible.