Page "Kemal Derviş" Paragraph 9

When Derviş became Turkey ’ s minister of economic affairs in March, 2001, after a 22-year career at the World Bank, the country was facing its worst economic crisis in modern history and prospects for success were uncertain.

Derviş used his independence from domestic vested interests and support of domestic reformers and civil society to push through a tough stabilization program with far-reaching structural changes and sweeping bank reforms that protected state banks from political use.

Derviş also strengthened the independence of the central bank and pushed through deep structural reforms in agriculture, energy and the budget process.

These reforms, and his reputation and top-level contacts in the U. S. and Europe, helped him to mobilize $ 20 billion in new loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Rapid economic growth resumed in 2002 and inflation came down from an average of nearly 70 percent in the 1990s to 12 percent in 2003 ; interest rates fell and the exchange rate for the Turkish lira stabilized.