Turkish state minister Mehmet Simsek said that Turkey’s economy was better off than it had been and the country did not have to accept terms dictated by the International Monetary Fund.

"If Turkey really had been in distress, it would have to sign whatever was offered just like Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine and Pakistan and it would not have a chance to negotiate with IMF," said Simsek, according to a report in newspaper Yeni Safak.

Negotiations between Turkey and the IMF were suspended in January 2009 because of significant differences between the two sides.

Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said that three IMF demands, handing autonomy to the Revenue Administration, pressing taxpayers to declare the source of their income and the cancelling of a law for transferring funds to municipalities, were unacceptable, according to a report by Hurriyet newspaper.

On February 26 2009, David Hawley of the IMF’s external relations department said that the talks were still underway and a few issues remained to be finalised.

"I can say that discussions are continuing with a view to finalising the remaining issues in connection with the programme, and in particular these relate to the medium-term financial reform agenda but also completing discussions on fiscal policy for 2009 and 2010 and policy preparedness in the event of a further worsening of the global environment," Hawley said, according to a transcript of the press briefing published on the Fund's website, quoted by Hurriyet.

Turkish market players and business associations have been piling pressure on the government to cut a deal with the IMF soon, as the impact of the global crisis bites deeper into the local economy, the newspaper said.