ANKARA, Jan 26: Turkey and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached an outline agreement on a plan to help the economy weather the global financial turmoil, Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Monday.

In talks since January 8, Turkish and IMF officials “reached an agreement in general terms on the content of many issues,” Simsek said in a statement, without specifying what amount of IMF funds Turkey could receive.

In remarks to reporters later, Simsek said “differences” on some issues remained unresolved, but declined to elaborate, Anatolia news agency reported.

He denied suggestions that the government would drag its feet on finalising the deal -- expected to set tight spending norms -- until after local elections in late March.

“Our intention is to begin implementing the programme in the shortest possible time... Our approach is not focused on the elections,” Anatolia quoted him as saying. The talks will continue in the coming days to “complete work on some mid- and long-term structural reforms within the programme,” the statement said.—AFP