Turkey repays all its debts to the International Monetary Fund

Turkey has achieved great success in repaying all its debts to the International Monetary Fund. This achievement has placed it among the rare countries in the world (only 11 countries) that have also succeeded in clearing their debts to the Fund since 2000.

The International Monetary Fund is one of the most important international financial institutions, with around 189 member countries worldwide. More than 70 of these members owe the institution a total amount exceeding 80 billion dollars. At the top of the list of countries most indebted to this institution is Portugal, with total borrowings from the IMF amounting to 21.7 billion dollars. Greece comes after Portugal, with its total debts to the Fund reaching about 16.6 billion dollars. Ukraine ranks third with 11.3 billion dollars, followed by Pakistan with 5.8 billion dollars and Ireland with 5.5 billion dollars, ranking fourth and fifth respectively.

Jordan comes in sixth place with a debt of 1.9 billion dollars, followed by Tunisia with 1.5 billion dollars, Iraq with 1.3 billion dollars, Southern Cyprus with 1.16 billion dollars, and Ivory Coast with 1.14 billion dollars. According to statistics, there are 28 countries that failed to repay their debts to the Fund on time, including Arab countries such as Egypt, Sudan, and Iraq.

Statistics indicate that the countries that managed to fully repay their debts to the International Monetary Fund since 2000 make up about one-sixth of the countries that are still indebted to it. The countries that have managed to repay their debts to the Fund, totaling 11 countries, are as follows: Argentina (2006), Brazil (2005), South Korea (2001), Iceland (2015), Lithuania (2013), Hungary (2013), Macedonia (2015), Romania (2015), Russia (2006), Turkey (2013), and Uruguay (2006).

Turkey and the International Monetary Fund:

The activities of the International Monetary Fund began in 1947 after World War II, aiming to eliminate the economic problems caused by the war. Turkey joined the Fund in the same year and signed 19 solidarity and support agreements, the first of which was during the government of Cemal Gursel, followed by other agreements until 1970. Although Turkey did not submit any loan requests to the Fund from 1970 to 1980, a long-term agreement was signed in 1980. The borrowing adventures from the International Monetary Fund continued until the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to end these adventures and fully repay Turkey's debts to the IMF in 2013.