Turkey to pay off debt to IMF by April 2013

ANKARA (A.A) - May 15, 2012 - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey would pay off all its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by April 2013. Delivering a speech at his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's parliamentary group meeting, Erdogan said that Turkey attracted an international direct investment worth 22 billion U.S. dollars in 2007 during the term of his party and it was a significant amount. Later Turkey attracted international direct investment of 18.5 billion USD in 2008, 8.4 billion USD in 2009, 9 billion USD in 2010 and 16 billion USD in 2011, he said. In regard to Turkey's debt to IMF, Erdogan said that the country's debt to the Fund dropped to 2.3 billion U.S. dollars from 23.5 billion USD during the term of AK Party. "We will pay off all debt to IMF," he said.