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Viewing cable 06ANKARA1768, Reports of Turkish Clash with IMF Overstated

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06ANKARA1768 2006-04-03 13:06 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Ankara
VZCZCXRO0529
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #1768/01 0931306
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031306Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4485
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0219
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0603
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001768 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - CPLANTIER 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN TU
SUBJECT: Reports of Turkish Clash with IMF Overstated 
 
Ref: A) Ankara 1528;  B) Ankara  1629 
 
1.(SBU) Summary:  After months in hibernation, social 
security reform legislation was finally approved by a 
parliamentary commission with a new round of predictions it 
will be passed into law in April. The IMF has long planned 
to send an overdue mission to Turkey once this crucial 
legislation is enacted, and will probably still do so, 
despite Government backsliding on tax policy.  Though the 
backsliding poses a dilemma for the IMF, the GOT has 
signaled a pullback from confrontation. End Summary. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Social Security Reform Comes Back to Life 
----------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) After months in hibernation in a sub-commission of 
the Plan and Budget Commission, the full Plan and Budget 
Commission finally approved the social security pension 
reform legislation that would gradually reduce the massive 
deficits in Turkey's state pension system.  On March 30, the 
commission finished approving the legislation, opening the 
way to consideration by the full parliament.  Both the IMF 
Deputy Resrep and a World Bank economist told us they would 
have to scrutinize the approved version to make sure 
Parliament didn't undermine the changes in contribution and 
payout formulas that create the cost savings. 
 
3. (SBU) The Government has been trying to pass the reform 
since last spring, and it is by far the single most 
important structural reform in the IMF program.  The GOT 
twice (June and October) tried to pass the legislation, only 
to pull back in the face of a fierce filibuster by the 
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).  In December, 
the IMF postponed its requirement that the law be passed and 
approved the first and second reviews.  Since then, the IMF 
has been clear it would not send a mission to consider the 
third review (now overdue) until the legislation was passed. 
Passage is now likely in April, a prediction Labor Minister 
Basesioglu made publicly on March 30.  Strangely, neither 
the press nor the AK Party parliamentarian we spoke to have 
explained what happened to the opposition filibuster this 
time.  The parliamentarian merely said: "they are trying." 
Whatever the explanation, the Government's strategy of 
slowly and quietly moving the bill through the commission 
seems to have worked. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Just how bad IS the fiscal backsliding? 
--------------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) The VAT rate cut for the textile industry and 
additional payment to civil servants (reftels) and 
consideration of other program-contravening fiscal measures 
led to a wave of speculation in both Turkish and 
international press of a looming clash with the IMF.  The 
IMF Managing Director's unprecedented public criticism added 
to this impression.  IMF staff tell us they are disappointed 
with the lack of consultation and saddened at the one-off 
policy measures that undermine the overall strategy of not 
cutting tax rates until the tax base has broadened.  On the 
other hand, the tone of their criticism does not suggest an 
imminent rupture.  Should the GOT pass the social security 
legislation, the Deputy Resrep personally believes the Fund 
will send a mission to assess the situation.  A mission will 
probably result in some sort of compromise solution with 
compensating measures that will enable the program to 
continue. 
 
5. (SBU) Our sense that IMF-Turkish relations while bad, are 
not yet at a crisis, was reinforced by two different 
contacts telling us that the disagreement over the 
additional civil service payment is all a misunderstanding. 
A Finance Ministry budget official who is also a PhD 
economist educated in the U.S., insisted the additional 
payment was fully incorporated in the 2006 budget, echoing 
Deputy Prime Minister Sener's earlier public comments. 
Likewise, the World Bank economist, perplexed by the IMF's 
criticism, agreed the budget covered the payments.  IMF 
officials had told us a portion of it (0.1% of GDP) was not 
budgeted for, but said they were studying the issue.  A 
separate technical team is in Ankara to look at this, among 
other budgetary issues. 
 
---------------------------- 
 
ANKARA 00001768  002 OF 002 
 
 
Unakitan and Sener Backtrack 
---------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Adding to concerns about fiscal backsliding was 
Finance Minister Unakitan's March 27 response to a 
reporter's question about the tourism sector's pleas for a 
textile-like VAT rate cut.  His answer -- that the 
Government was considering the issue -- was widely 
interpreted to mean the Government planned to cut tourism 
sector taxes, which would be yet another contravention of 
the IMF agreement.  On March 29, Unakitan backtracked, 
saying, "Just because we cut taxes in the textile sector we 
are not going to cut taxes in all sectors." 
 
7. (SBU) In a similar vein, Deputy Prime Minister Sener 
announced on March 30, that the Government would not 
consider additional tax cuts until the 2007 budget, which 
would be negotiated with the IMF. The Unakitan and Sener 
comments, taken together, represent a clear signal the 
government did not want to exacerbate problems with the IMF. 
 
--------------------------- 
We've Seen This Play Before 
--------------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) The GOT's contravention of its IMF commitment, 
followed by a pullback from outright confrontation, follows 
a familiar script. As in past years, the GOT pretends it 
doesn't have a specific IMF commitment in order to pander to 
popular opinion, then patches things back up with the IMF. 
Having waived the social security reform condition in 
December, the IMF has to be firm about parliamentary passage 
of that particular reform, but is unlikely to want to take 
too hard a line in other areas. With Argentina and Brazil 
having repaid, not only is Turkey its major success story, 
but Turkey accounts for 72% of the IMF's credit outstanding. 
As J. Paul Getty's famously said, "If you owe the bank $100 
that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, 
that's the bank's problem." 
 
Wilson