Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at May 27th, 2009

Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday that Turkey would need IMF financing later this year due to pressure on its external deficits but has room to do without a deal in the summer months.

Negotiations between Turkey and the IMF have so far failed to produce a loan accord, expected to reach $45 billion, due to differences over public sector spending and fiscal reforms.

A $10 billion IMF stand-by agreement expired in May 2008 and the current talks are aimed at a new three-year stand-by deal, but the government is increasingly reluctant to agree to demands from the fund for spending cuts. (more…)

Posted by meb at May 27th, 2009

Although the global economic crisis is causing great troubles for financial institutions virtually everywhere else in the world, including the age-old giant banks, Turkish banks are maintaining high profit rates, despite a small ebb, when compared to their performance in the previous years.

The crisis caused banks, in especially the US and Europe, to post losses in 2008 and the first quarter of this year. Many banks were confiscated, applied for bankruptcy or received huge bailouts from their governments in order to stay afloat. None of these nightmares have been witnessed by Turkish banks, which have all managed to make a profit. For example, all of the 17 banks whose shares are being traded in the İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB) were able to announce profits in the first quarter this year at a time when the global financial meltdown was most heavily felt across the global markets. (more…)