ANKARA Turkey's State Planning Organization (DPT) has formally revised its predictions for end-2000 inflation, showing an expected overshoot of targets agreed with the IMF under a $4 billion standby accord.
The DPT report, obtained by Reuters on Friday, sees the year-end Wholesale Price Index (WPI) at 29 percent and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 34 percent.
Turkey's year-end targets agreed with the IMF are 20 percent for WPI and 25 percent for CPI.
Turkish officials have already said those targets will not be met until early in 2001, in conformity with the DTP report.
September WPI inflation stood at 43.9 percent on an annual basis.
Under the IMF disinflation program, Turkey aims to achieve single digit inflation by the end of 2002.
The report also predicted higher-than-targeted GNP growth of 6 percent, compared to 5.5 percent agreed with the IMF.
Higher domestic growth, coupled with increased consumer credit as the IMF program brings lower interest rates, contributed to a rapid widening of Turkey's current account deficit, which stood at $5.912 billion between January and July.
The DPT acknowledged the swelling deficit, predicting that year-end current account deficit as a proportion of GNP would be 4.1 percent, as opposed to 1.8 percent set with the IMF.
It left its exports projection unchanged at $28 billion but revised projected imports to $52 billion from $46 billion.
(Reuter)