Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at September 9th, 2008

Turkey’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is expected to be 10.72 percent by the end of 2008, Turkey’s Central Bank said in its survey of expectations report issued on Tuesday.

According to the figures, the year-end CPI expectation has fallen 0.32 percent compared to figures announced in the previous survey. The previous year-end expectation was 11.04 percent according to the latest survey issued in the August’s second term. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 8th, 2008

Azerbaijan’s Palmali Group and Socar, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, consortium purchased 50 percent of Turkish construction company, Tekfen, for $520 million, the company said in a statement issued to Istanbul Stock Exchange on Monday.

The Palmali Group – Socar consortium will set some $37 billion construction job to Tekfen for the next five years under the agreement, the statement said. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 8th, 2008

The delays caused by Russian authorities on Turkish export products have cost Turkish companies $500 million to date, Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said Sunday.

It was unacceptable for Russia to make it difficult for Turkish exports to enter the Russian market, Tuzmen told reporters in Ankara.

“We have not yet been able to solve the difficulty with Russia. Our Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici held a meeting with the Russian Customs chairman (to solve the problem) in Istanbul,” Anatolian Agency quoted Tuzmen as saying. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 8th, 2008

Despite the high growth rates in its economy over the past five years, Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has made little progress toward EU averages in the given period.

According to a recent report by the General Directorate of EU Affairs, a subdivision of the State Planning Organization (DPT), the average GDP per capita of the entire EU, based on the purchasing power parity (PPP), was 2.7 times more than Turkey’s GDP per capita five years ago. The report claimed that if the current projections prove valid, this difference will be 2.4 times by year’s end. In 2009, a citizen of the EU will be 2.3 times richer on average than a Turk.

The report, titled “Economic Developments in the EU Member and Candidate Countries,” said the average GDP per capita in the EU was 21,600 euros in 2004, whereas it is estimated to climb to 25,900 euros by the end of 2008. This figure is expected to grow to 26,800 euros in 2009. In Turkey on the other hand, the GDP per capita was 8,100 euros five years ago and it will have reached 10,900 euros by the end of 2008. Next year it is expected to rise to 11,500 euros. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 8th, 2008

An agreement concluded between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Turkish Republic and ratified on June 3 by Parliament officially come into effect yesterday after being published in the Official Gazette, enabling the EIB to open branches and representative offices in Turkey.

The EIB has a special mission of extending favorable loans to support investment in European countries and in countries that are involved in the EU accession process. The bank can provide loans with repayment terms starting up to eight years after disbursement of funds and terms extending up to 30 years. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 6th, 2008

Antalya has become the most popular vacation destination for Russian tourists, according to the Anatolia news agency.

Russia sends more tourists to Turkey than anywhere else, according to data compiled by Anatolia. Escaping their country’s cold climate for Turkey’s sun, sand and sea, Russians prefer to take their vacations in Antalya.

In terms of numbers of tourists visiting Antalya, Russians ranked first with 1.6 million tourists in the first eight months of this year. German tourists got the second spot with 1.5 million visitors and Ukrainians followed Germans with 335,595 tourists. A total of 6.5 million tourists, including both foreign and domestic tourists, visited Antalya in the first eight months of 2008. In the same period Antalya was also the most popular vacation spot for Iranian and Spanish tourists. The number of Iranian tourists in Antalya increased by 117 percent compared to last year, and the number of Spanish tourists increased by 267 percent. (more…)

Posted by meb at September 6th, 2008

General Electric, the world’s biggest maker of power generation equipment, still plans to submit a bid to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant even though it will probably miss a Sept. 24 government deadline.

GE’s nuclear venture with Hitachi, Japan’s third-largest builder of atomic plants, is working on a bid with partners Turkey’s Sabancı Holding and Spain’s Iberdrola, Jack Fuller, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s chief executive officer, said in an interview.

“We are preparing the proposals, I just don’t think it can be completed before Sept. 24,” he said Wednesday in London. “The government also wants competition. They want multiple providers of nuclear technology. So if they only get, let’s say, one on the 24th, then that probably won’t satisfy their needs anyway.” (more…)

Posted by meb at September 6th, 2008

Akbank, Yapı Kredi and İşbank were downgraded by JPMorgan Chase &Co., which cited high interest rates and lower business volumes during the Ramadan holiday season.

Akbank and Yapı Kredi were lowered to “neutral” from “overweight” and İşbank, Turkey’s biggest listed lender, was cut to “underweight” from “neutral,” analysts, including Paul Formanko, wrote in a note to clients dated Friday. (more…)