Banking & Finance Turkey begins rolling back costly FX-protected deposits Turkey’s central bank has begun rolling back a costly scheme that protects lira deposits from FX depreciation, marking another move toward more orthodox policies following a shift toward interest rate hikes. The central bank said on Sunday that it lifted targets applied to banks for certain levels of conversions of foreign exchange deposits to the […] August 21, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey gets $100m US loan for quake zone development Turkey’s Sekerbank has signed a $100 million loan agreement with the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to develop the country’s earthquake-hit region. The bank will also allocate $33 million from its own resources to increase the total amount to $133 million. The seven-year loan will also finance women’s businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises […] August 20, 2023
Finance Turkey’s budget surplus hits $1.8bn on higher taxes Turkey has reported a budget surplus of $1.8 billion in July 2023 following the government’s move to increase taxes on certain goods. The country’s deficit stood at $8.13 billion in June, seven times the deficit a year earlier, Daily Sabah reported, citing official data. The government raised taxes on petrol and increased value added taxes […] August 16, 2023
Banking & Finance Cop28 tipped to feed appetite for green sukuk The Cop28 climate conference in the UAE is expected to boost interest in green sukuk as the market gathers momentum in the GCC, Malaysia and Turkey. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sukuk – sharia-compliant instruments used to fund renewable energy and other green projects – are set to be a central issuance theme for the remainder […] August 15, 2023
Finance Turkey to lower inflation after transition period Turkey aims to lower soaring inflation permanently after a transitional period where prices remain high, finance minister Mehmet Simsek said in an interview with the Yeni Safak newspaper. “Our goal is to bring down inflation permanently after a transitional period,” Simsek said. The sustained price pressure, driven by a drop in the lira currency and […] August 11, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey’s FX reserves rise as policy U-turn continues Turkey’s net foreign exchange reserves surged nearly $5 billion last week, with total reserves up almost $2 billion, bankers’ calculations showed on Wednesday, resuming an uptrend since it adopted a more orthodox monetary policy following May elections. The rebuilding of the central bank’s currency buffer is seen as a gauge of authorities’ willingness to ease […] August 10, 2023
Finance Turkey introduces 20% extra tariff on gold imports Turkey has introduced a 20 percent additional charge for some gold imports. Gold imports originating from countries without a free trade agreement and that are not in the European Union (EU) will be charged an additional fee on top of the existing import and other duties, Reuters reported. Gold imports such as jewellery products and […] August 8, 2023
Finance EBRD extends $109m loan for Turkey’s quake-hit region The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide $109 million to Turkey’s largest private bank to lend to businesses and individuals affected by earthquakes that devastated the country’s south-eastern region in February. The loan is part of the bank’s Turkey disaster response framework, launched in the aftermath of the earthquakes, which caused over […] August 6, 2023
Economy Turkey pledges hiking rates at global investor meet Turkey’s new-look economic team met for the first time with dozens of international investors on Friday and pledged to continue hiking interest rates, even as economic growth slows, to head off rebounding inflation, two sources said. According to the sources and a draft programme, the eight-hour meeting in Istanbul included finance minister Mehmet Simsek and […] August 6, 2023
Economy Turkey’s inflation rises to 48% after consumer prices jump Turkey’s annual inflation rate reached 47.83 percent in July, up from 38.2 percent in June, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute, as its economic woes continue to deepen. The rate of inflation has slowed after hitting a two-decade high of 85 percent in October 2022. Consumer prices jumped by 9.5 percent on a month-on-month basis, […] August 4, 2023
Economy Turkey restricts use of credit cards for foreign travel Turkey’s banking watchdog has stopped allowing credit card payments by instalment for foreign travel, such as flights, travel agency fees and accommodation, in a step seen dealing a blow to foreign travel operators. The move hit airline shares and was seen as curbing foreign currency outflows. It was one of two measures announced by the […] August 2, 2023
Economy Turkey’s trade deficit hits $61bn as exports drop Turkey’s foreign trade deficit increased by 18.7 percent to $61.2 billion in the first half of this year, with exports down by 1.9 percent compared with a 4.1 percent rise in imports. Exports from January through to June dropped to $123.3 billion, while imports climbed to $184.6 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. The […] August 1, 2023
Aviation Indonesia buys drones worth $300m from Turkey Indonesia has bought 12 new drones from Turkish Aerospace worth $300 million, its defence ministry said, the latest in a series of purchases aimed at modernising the country’s ageing military equipment. The deal comes after Indonesian President Joko Widodo in July warned his cabinet to maintain a “healthy” budget as he highlighted outsized spending by […] August 1, 2023
Tourism Turks decide there is no place like home for a holiday A sharp decline in the lira has boosted domestic tourism in Turkey as a growing number of people opt to holiday at home. Turks are spending more money than ever on food and drink and helping to spread the country’s wealth to poorer, rural areas, analysts have observed. In the first quarter of 2023, Turks […] July 31, 2023
Economy Turkey’s central bank chief expects inflation to hit 58% Turkey’s new central bank chief pitched a comprehensive monetary policy in her first formal address to the media, while her acknowledgement of stark inflation pressures was welcomed by foreign investors. Laying out her philosophy in her debut news conference, Hafize Gaye Erkan pledged that her holistic approach would – in addition to interest rate hikes […] July 28, 2023
Logistics DHL buys Turkish firm to tap into e-commerce sector DHL Group has bought Turkish parcel delivery company MNG Kargo, as the German logistics giant looks to tap into Turkey’s fast-growing ecommerce industry. “E-commerce remains one of the biggest growth drivers for logistics services and especially for parcel volumes,” CEO Tobias Meyer said. “We, therefore, continuously work to expand our footprint.” DHL will buy MNG […] July 26, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey raises credit card interest to tame inflation The Turkish central bank on Tuesday detailed moves it was taking to support monetary tightening, including raising the monthly maximum interest rate on credit card cash usage and overdraft accounts to 2.89 percent. It said the increase in the rate, from a previous 1.91 percent, was designed to control inflation and balance domestic demand. The […] July 26, 2023
Transport UK keeps Turkey’s high speed railway on track with $865m backing The UK government’s export credit agency has underwritten $865 million of financing to support construction of a 286km high-speed electric railway in southern Turkey. With financing provided by UK Export Finance (UKEF), Turkey’s Rönesans Holding will finish construction of the Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep High Speed Railway on behalf of the Turkish Ministry of Transport. The deal is […] July 25, 2023
Renewable Energy Total signs deal to expand Turkey’s green energy output France’s TotalEnergies and Turkey’s Ronesans Holding have entered into a partnership to expand renewable power generation capacity in Turkey. TotalEnergies will take a 50 percent stake in Ronesans Enerji and jointly develop 1,000 megawatt (MW) of wind and solar farms over the next three years, the Daily Sabah newspaper reported, citing Ronesans Holding president Erman […] July 24, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey raises rate to 17.5% as inflation likely to soar Turkey’s central bank hiked its policy rate by 250 basis points to 17.5 percent on Thursday, continuing to reverse President Tayyip Erdogan’s low-rates policy. However, the tightening fell short of expectations with inflation expected to rise sharply. It was the second meeting under new governor Hafize Gaye Erkan. He is leading a change of course […] July 21, 2023
Banking & Finance Turkey’s monetary tightening faces funding setbacks Bankers warned on Wednesday that the effectiveness of recent monetary tightening in Turkey could be negatively impacted after funding conducted through open market operations (Omo) by the central bank turned negative for the first time in over a decade. The central bank has boosted its reserves by $20 billion since the beginning of June, mostly […] July 20, 2023
Real Estate Turkish home sales drop by 44% after earthquakes Macroeconomic trends, a quirk of the calendar and the market fallout from February’s earthquakes have led to a 44 percent drop in Turkish home sales, experts have told AGBI. A total of 83,636 homes were sold in Turkey in June, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute, compared to 150,509 during the same month last year. […] July 19, 2023
