Turkey, IMF discuss precautionary stand-by deal

By Tolgahan Ozkan and Alexandra Hudson

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is continuing talks with the International Monetary Fund on a precautionary stand-by agreement, Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Thursday after an IMF delegation left the country.

Turkey's previous $10 billion (6 billion pound) IMF stand-by deal -- which stipulated conditions related to loans -- expired in May and an IMF team had been in Ankara for post-programme monitoring and talks on a possible new deal since mid-October.

Simsek said at a conference in Istanbul that Turkey was positive about a possible deal to anchor the economy and a programme may be agreed if differences with the IMF can be overcome.

Separately, a statement from the Treasury in Simsek's name said the delegation had completed talks, focused on Turkey's macro-economic outlook, and left the country on Wednesday.

It said agreement was reached that the Turkish economy was more resistant to shocks.

"Sustaining fiscal discipline, cautious monetary policy, active liquidity management and structural reforms to maintain improvements in private financing will be important in limiting the impact of global developments on Turkey," it said.

There was no mention in the statement of a possible precautionary stand-by deal that would enable Ankara to gain access to the IMF credit during times of difficulty.

The IMF's Turkey staff team chief Lorenzo Giorgianni said Turkey's economy was more resilient than in the past but would unavoidably be affected by the retrenchment of inflows to emerging markets.