Banking & Finance Turkey warns lenders against FX transactions during ‘off hours’ Turkey’s central bank sent a letter to local lenders on Monday, warning them against conducting forex transactions with foreign banks during ‘off hours’ and offering deposits with very high interest rates to avoid bond holding requirements. The central bank has introduced rules in recent months to reduce the gap between the policy rate and lending […] November 1, 2022
Economy Turkey’s central bank hikes 2022 inflation forecast to 65.2% Turkey’s central bank has lifted its inflation forecast for the end of 2022 to 65.2 percent from 60.4 percent, governor Sahap Kavcioglu said on Thursday, marking the fourth rise this year, as he conceded that the bank had not been “very successful” in curbing price growth. Turkish annual inflation climbed to a 24-year high of […] October 28, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey bankers say ballooning debt poses long-term risks Turkish bank executives raised concerns with authorities this week that a year of new rules forcing them to buy government bonds could ultimately destabilise the sector, even as it sharply reduces costs of a big pre-election spending plan. According to six people who participated in or were briefed on a Monday meeting with finance minister […] October 27, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey halts lending to more FX-rich firms to boost lira Turkey tightened lending rules for many companies with more than $500,000 in foreign currency cash on Friday, sweeping up more borrowers under rules adopted in June in the latest step to reverse a tumbling lira. The BDDK bank regulator said that if companies subject to independent audit had more than 10 million lira ($538,000) of […] October 24, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey slashes rates more than expected, lira hits record low Turkey’s central bank slashed its policy rate by a more-than-expected 150 basis points (bps) to 10.5 percent on Thursday, and promised to halt the easing cycle urged by President Tayyip Erdogan after another similarly-hefty cut next month. The move pushed the lira to a record low near 19 to the dollar and comes after Erdogan […] October 21, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkish central bank takes more steps to boost lira deposits Turkey’s central bank took fresh steps to boost lira deposits on Tuesday, raising the ratio of bonds that banks must hold for foreign exchange deposits and requiring those with less than 50 percent lira deposits to hold even more bonds from next year. The central bank raised the securities maintenance ratio required for forex deposits […] October 18, 2022
Energy Turkey backs Russia’s gas plan as Nord Stream faces long outage Large sections of the damaged Nord Stream pipelines built to supply gas to Europe might need to be replaced, the head of Gazprom said, while Turkey on Friday backed Russian proposals to build a gas hub there as an alternative supply route. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week proposed Turkey as a base for gas […] October 16, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey plans to write off nearly $1.6bn of debt under draft law A Turkish parliamentary commission began discussing on Thursday a draft bill that would write off nearly 30 billion lira ($1.61 billion) of debt, according to an impact report. Under the draft prepared by President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party (AKP), the government will waive nearly 27 billion lira of debt used for student housing, as well […] October 14, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkish SMEs grab their highest ever share of bank loans Targeted credit policies adopted by Turkey’s central bank have this year enabled small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to grab their highest ever share of banking sector loans, its deputy governor said. The SMEs took 558 billion lira ($30 billion) of the 1.2 trillion lira in total corporate loans extended by commercial banks in the nine […] October 13, 2022
Economy Turkish unemployment rate falls on economic woes Turkey’s unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points month-on-month to 9.6 percent in August, while a seasonally adjusted measure of labour under-utilisation fell to 19.8 percent, data showed on Monday. The labour under-utilisation measure, which stood at 22.4 percent in July, has been on a falling trend since peaking at 29.6 percent in January 2021 due […] October 11, 2022
Banking & Finance Erdogan vows to cut rates ‘as long as he remains president’ Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Saturday that the central bank would continue to cut its policy interest rates every month for as long as he stayed in power, after it surprised markets by cutting rates twice in the last two months. “As long as this brother of yours is in this position, the interest […] October 9, 2022
Banking & Finance EBRD head raises concerns over Turkey’s rate-cutting policy The head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) raised some concerns with Turkish authorities over their “outlier” policy of seeking to drive economic growth with low interest rates, she told Reuters on Friday. Odile Renaud-Basso, president of the EBRD, was in Istanbul after meetings that she called “frank and transparent” with Turkey’s […] October 9, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey receives $780m from South Korea under swap deal South Korea made a transfer worth $780 million to Turkey’s central bank last week, a portion of the $2 billion agreed under a swap deal signed in 2021, two bankers told Reuters. The total amount transferred to Turkey from South Korea under the deal is now worth almost $1 billion, said bankers, citing calculations based […] October 7, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey inflation hits new 24-year high of 83% after rate cuts Turkish annual inflation climbed to a new 24-year high of 83.45 percent in September, data showed on Monday, still lower than forecast, after the central bank surprised markets by cutting rates twice in the last two months. Despite soaring prices, the central bank was expected to cut its policy rate again this month, after President […] October 4, 2022
Tourism Iranians flock to Turkey’s eastern province on tourism rebound Visitors from Iran, Iraq and Armenia have started flocking Turkey’s Van province, helping the eastern region exceed the pre-pandemic figures, Daily Sabah newspaper said. Provincial culture and tourism director Erol Uslu disclosed that Iranian visitors had shown great interest in the city since the beginning of the year. The official said Van had exceeded the […] October 3, 2022
Analysis Banking & Finance Arab banks shun Russian Mir payments system after pressure Along with losing ground on the battlefield in recent weeks, Moscow’s foothold in the Arab world’s financial system has also hit setbacks. Turkey’s finance minister Nureddin Nebati last Thursday announced that three state banks – Vakifbank, Ziraat Bank and Halkbank – had suspended the use of the Russian Mir payment system which is the country’s […] October 3, 2022
Retail Domino’s Pizza operator to focus on coffee market in Turkey DP Eurasia, which runs the Domino’s Pizza brand in Turkey and Russia, said on Friday the group would focus on its Turkish market and growing its coffee business, as Western sanctions and the uncertainty of war overshadow Russian sales. “The Turkish market has been growing faster than two-to-three years ago and our coffee business is […] October 2, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey adds another 9 tonnes of gold, retaining its top buyer spot Turkey added another nine tonnes of gold to its central bank reserves in August, building on the fact that it has been the biggest buyer of the precious metal this year, boosting its reserves by 83.8 percent in 2022. “Gold-related activity among central banks was muted in August; only a handful of banks meaningfully contributed […] September 30, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkey’s state banks suspend use of Russian Mir payment system Turkey’s three state banks have suspended the use of the Russian Mir payment system, Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati told Reuters on Thursday. The suspension comes as the United States cracks down on those accused of helping Moscow skirt sanctions and as Western nations grow concerned over increased economic ties between NATO-member Turkey and Russia. Turkish […] September 30, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkish clearing house move halts sharp decline in some bank shares Turkish clearing house Takasbank took action to provide liquidity to brokerages and take on some stock as collateral, the market authority said on Thursday, stabilising shares in Turkish lenders Sekerbank and TSKB. Banking shares on the Borsa Istanbul fell sharply in recent weeks, after surging more than 150 percent up to mid-September from the beginning […] September 30, 2022
Banking & Finance Erdogan hopes policy rate will fall to single digits by year-end Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he hopes the central bank’s monetary policy committee will deliver another cut to its policy rate next month and bring it down to single digits by year-end. Erdogan, speaking in a televised interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, said Turkey aims to strengthen the lira by reducing interest rates. […] September 29, 2022
Tech Malaysia and Indonesia interested in buying Turkish armed drones Malaysia and Indonesia have expressed keen interest in buying armed drones from Turkish defence firm Baykar, according to Ankara’s foreign minister. “Many Asian countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia, show great interest in our defence industry products. Agreements are being signed,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a press conference in Tokyo on Monday. Cavusoglu, who was in Japan […] September 27, 2022