At 04/01/02 14:47 -0800, you wrote: >IMF threats override domestic opposition to tobacco industry >privatization, a move sure to increase smoking rates and preventable death. > > > >Turkey Passes Law To Deregulate Tobacco Industry >Source: AP, 2002-01-04ANKARA (AP)-- > >Turkey's parliament overrode a >presidential veto and ratified a law to deregulate the country's >tobacco industry, meeting a demand by the International Monetary >Fund. > >The bill, approved late Thursday, ends a state monopoly over the >tobacco industry, stops subventions to growers and aims to prevent >overproduction. > >President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had vetoed the same bill in July on the >grounds that it made no provisions for thousands of tobacco growers. >But lawmakers debated and passed the bill for a second time without >making any changes to its original form. Sezer is now forced to >approve the law. > >Deregulating the tobacco industry was part of a package of reforms >pledged to the IMF, which has already committed $19 billion in loans >to help Turkey battle a crisis that saw the currency slide and >unemployment soar. The IMF is expected to offer another $10 billion >later this month. > >Turkey has promised the IMF it will use the funds to back a tough >economic program to cut public spending, shrink the state's role in >the economy, and complete the restructuring of a banking sector >whose flaws were a key cause of the crisis. > >The government hopes the plan will boost growth to 5% this year. The >economy was expected to contract by up to 8% in 2001. > >(END) Dow Jones Newswires 04-01-02 >_______________________________________________ >stop-imf mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/stop-imf >To subscribe or unsubscribe by e-mail, send a message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED], with your administrative request in >the subject line
