Retail Turkish consumer confidence hits record low in April The Turkish consumer confidence index dropped 7.3 percent to 67.3 points in April, official data showed on Thursday, hitting its lowest ever level, driven by a 10 percent drop from the previous month in the financial situation of households. A slide in the value of the lira began driving a fall in consumer confidence late […] April 29, 2022
Energy Turkey hikes gas prices, as inflation tops 60% in March Turkish state-owned energy importer BOTAS said it had raised natural gas prices for industrial facilities by 50 percent and those for households by 35 percent, raising the prospect of further stoking inflation, which is expected to top 60 percent in March. BOTAS also said natural gas prices for electricity production were going up by 44.3 […] April 29, 2022
Real Estate Turks “bewildered” as rents outpace rampant inflation Undeterred by industry figures showing rents in Istanbul have doubled inside a year, yoga instructor Ceren Tabak was fully prepared to spend most of her salary on housing costs when she decided last month to look for a home of her own. But she says real estate agents laughed when she quoted them the 6,000 […] April 29, 2022
Tourism Visitors to Turkey jump 130% in March The number of foreign visitors arriving in Turkey jumped 129.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.08 million in March, data showed on Friday, as the sector continued to recover from the impact of measures to combat the spread of coronavirus since 2020. The arrivals compared with a level of 718,097 foreign visitors in March […] April 29, 2022
Turkish central bank nearly doubles inflation forecast Turkey’s annual inflation will peak at around 70 percent by June before declining to near 43 percent by year-end, the central bank has forecast. The central bank slashed its policy rate by 500 basis points to 14 percent last year as part of President Tayyip Erdogan’s new economic plan. The cuts sparked a currency crisis […] April 29, 2022
Media & Advertising Bloomberg reporters in Turkey acquitted over 2018 currency crisis article A Turkish court on Friday acquitted 33 people, including two Bloomberg reporters and other journalists from local media, of spreading false information about the economy in an article and tweets at the height of a currency crisis in 2018. The case followed a criminal complaint filed in August 2018 by the BDDK banking watchdog over […] April 29, 2022
Lifestyle Turkish court sentences Kavala to life in prison A Turkish court sentenced philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison on Monday finding him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government by financing 2013 nationwide protests, in a case that Europe’s top court and Ankara’s Western allies said was politically motivated. Kavala, 64, has been in jail for 4-1/2 years without a conviction and […] April 27, 2022
Media & Advertising Turkish President Erdogan plans visit to Saudi’s Crown Prince Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit Saudi Arabia on Thursday and meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as Ankara tries to mend ties with Riyadh after dropping a legal case on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Relations have been tense since a Saudi hit team killed Khashoggi at the kingdom’s Istanbul […] April 27, 2022
Erdogan ready to lift all coronavirus measures in Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey is ready to lift all measures against the coronavirus, adding that mask wearing will no longer be obligatory indoors. Speaking after the final meeting of the advisory science council, Erdogan said masks will still be mandated on public transport and in medical institutions until daily new cases […] April 26, 2022
Banking and Finance Lights go out on Erdogan rival who refused to pay power bills The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party said on Thursday that he will sit in the dark for a week after power had been cut at his home as he refused to pay his bills in protest of steep hikes in subsidised energy prices. A currency crisis late last year sent inflation soaring and prompted […] April 21, 2022
Real Estate Turkey’s house price index surges 96% annually Turkey’s residential property price index (RPPI) leapt an annual 96.4% in February in nominal terms, central bank data showed on Monday, surging against abackground of rising inflation. In the country’s largest city Istanbul, home to around a fifth of Turkey’s population of 85 million, the index climbed 106.3% on the year. The surge follows a […] April 20, 2022
Real Estate Turkish house sales rise 20.6% in March Turkish house sales rose 20.6% in March on the year to 134,170 houses, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed on Friday. Sales to foreigners rose 31%, the institute said, with Iranian citizens topping the list. Iraqis and Russians were the next biggest buyers of Turkish properties, it added. Wealthy Russians are pouring money into […] April 15, 2022