Turkey Financial News » Banking & Mortgage

Interest rates to remain low, TEB executive predicts

meb — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:41:45 +0000

The Turkish Central Bank will probably keep its benchmark interest rates at a record low until year-end and may extend higher reserve requirements for banks into 2013, according to Istanbul-based Türk Ekonomi Bankası, or TEB.

The Central Bank has cut interest rates by 75 basis points since December to help slow capital inflows, while increasing reserve requirements to cap growth in loans and contain the current-account deficit. The bank last increased the reserve requirement for one-month deposits to 15 percent from 10 percent on March 23.

“The Central Bank did not design this policy for this year and this policy cannot be successful in three months,” Ümit Leblebici, deputy general manager at TEB, a unit of France’s BNP Paribas, said in an interview Monday in Istanbul. Policy makers will keep the rate at 6.25 percent “for at least 2011” and current reserve requirements “will continue into 2012 and possibly 2013,” he said.

Survey pointing to a hike

The Central Bank will probably raise borrowing costs by a half point to 6.75 percent in the fourth quarter followed by a similar increase in the first three months of next year, according to the average of at least six estimates in a Bloomberg surveys of analysts.

“I take sides with the camp who believe that the Central Bank policy is not bad,” Leblebici said. The verdict on the whether this policy was right depends on inflation remaining contained over the next two months, he said.

Leblebici said he did not expect the Turkish Treasury to sell new Eurobonds this year, after the Treasury raised 180 billion yen ($2.2 billion) in the largest sale of Samurai debt by a sovereign borrower in a decade on March 11.

“Borrowing in the Samurai market was enough and we will see new borrowing in 2012,” he said. The government doesn’t need to sell new debt and it will wait for the right conditions before considering a new sale, he said.

TEB plans to start selling the first tranches of a 900 million liras ($584 million) of bonds in May or June, Leblebici said. The maturity will be between six months and two years, he added.

European bank revises Turkey’s growth outlook

meb — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:05:02 +0000

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or EBRD, which has been withdrawing gradually from Central European countries, plans to prioritize Turkey.

EBRD is the first international finance corporation, among many others, to revise Turkey’s economic growth in a positive direction.

The bank had published a report estimating Turkey’s 2010 growth to be 1 percent. The bank has revised that outlook to 3 percent.

The economies of eastern and southern Europe including Turkey, will experience an economic contraction this year, however, signs of recovery will begin next year, said the EBRD.

Turkey’s economy will contract nearly 6 percent in 2009, however that contraction rate is still well above contraction expected in other countries in the region.

According to the EBRD, while southeastern European countries are experiencing a recession of 6.2 percent this year, the mean contraction will be 8.7 percent for eastern European countries.

Turkey will have the fastest growing economy in its region in 2010, said EBRD, with the average economic growth expected from the region is 0.7 percent. Turkey’s economic growth for that period was revised to 3 percent growth, which marks four-fold growth over the average.

Turkey’s robust banking industry will play a major role in the fast recovery, according to EBRD. The increase in the European Union’s demand and foreign trade with those countries will be a major motivator of 2010 recovery, according to the bank. Other factors will include increasing demand from EU member countries and increasing foreign trade figures. Meanwhile, unemployment will continue to be the top concern for Turkey and other countries in its region.

The EBRD also revealed plans to prioritize Turkey in regards to investments, with specific support aimed at the banking industry, the tourism sector, small- and medium-sized enterprises, media, infrastructure investments, energy, real estate, health, information technologies, agriculture and food.
source: Hurriyet daily news

Minister unveils plan to turn Istanbul into global finance center

meb — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:42:29 +0000

Discussed for months but never detailed, key points of a government plan to turn Istanbul into a global financial center were finally revealed by a top minister on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference organized as part of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Istanbul would soon become “a significant and prominent financial center.” Babacan tied the effort to the “void” created by the global financial crisis.

“Istanbul is the natural finance center of Turkey,” he told journalists. “We need to increase its competitive power regionally and globally. The competitive strength of our economy is very important.”

The project “Istanbul International Financial Center,” or IFC Istanbul, is included in the ninth development plan covering 2007-2013.

“In this action plan, in order to have Istanbul as a global finance center, priorities have been determined to build a legal infrastructure that operates on international standards, to increase diversity of financial products and services and to develop a simple and effective system,” said Babacan. “We need to enhance our legal infrastructure.”

“In the effort to turn Istanbul into such a center, it is necessary to improve the legal aspect, which would bring expeditious and effective resolutions of disputes in the area of finance, to establish an institutional arbitration center and to accelerate legislation of laws that would contribute to the IFC-Istanbul Project,” the minister said.

One priority is to increase the diversity of financial products and services, according to Babacan. “A global finance center should have diversity in the products and services it offers and the conditions of such offers should be attractive,” he said.

Noting that building a simple and effective tax system is also a priority, Babacan said tax laws and related legislation will be made “simple, clear, predictable and sustainable.”

Reforming taxation would help the inflow of financial transactions into Istanbul and Turkey, the minister said. “We should also consider improving the regulatory and supervisory framework.”

“The current global crisis once more demonstrated the importance of coordination among regulatory authorities of countries,” Babacan said. “On the other hand, we can say that Turkey has proved itself with its strong financial and banking system. Turkey sets an example for other countries.”

Enhancing physical infrastructure is another priority for the IFC-Istanbul project. “We are targeting to develop every part of the city in terms of standards and technology,” said Babacan. “We are also working to create new software for markets and a technology platform to serve as a communication center.”

Babacan mentioned that the IFC is a long-term plan. “The IFC-Istanbul project will not only focus on a specific site. In fact, all operations across Istanbul to enhance residential areas, security and transportation, shall support the IFC,” he said. “We will focus on developing human resources and the image of Istanbul. As you all know, Turkey is very strong on human resources.”

The government has created nine working groups for the project, he said.

Responding to a question on the perceived “unease” of the government about the independence of the Central Bank, Babacan said the government was not questioning the status of the bank.
source: Hurriyet daily news

Central Bank discusses pace of rate cuts

meb — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:41:33 +0000

Turkey’s Central Bank said its monetary policy committee has discussed slowing the pace of an 11-month series of cuts to the benchmark interest rate.

The bank isn’t convinced by signs of economic recovery and decided to maintain its easing bias, it said in an e-mail statement of the minutes of the Sept. 17 meeting in Ankara.

Still, there’s a growing belief that the worst of the crisis has passed and “it’s appropriate to adopt a flexible policy and consider the possibility of slowing the reductions,” it said.

The bank lowered the benchmark rate by half a percentage point to a record 7.25 percent at the meeting, taking total reductions over the last 11 months to 9.5 percent, the biggest of any G-20 nation. Gross domestic product is likely to contract 6.5 percent this year, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts announced Thursday.

Considering the weak state of the economy, when committee meets Oct. 15, “we think that the bank is about to deliver another half-point rate cut” Özgür Altuğ, economist for BGC Partners in Istanbul, said in an e-mailed report. The bank is likely to cut the rate to 6.5 percent by year-end, he said.

Any recovery is likely to be slow and output will remain “below potential for some time,” keeping the inflation rate low, the bank said Thursday.

The bank’s inflation target for this year is 7.5 percent and its most recent survey of economists and businessmen forecasts a year-end rate of 5.7 percent. Consumer inflation in August slowed to 5.3 percent, close to May’s 39-year low of 5.2 percent.

Tax reductions on new cars and home appliances expired at the end of September, which is likely to add to inflation in October, the bank said.

There’s no sign of an improvement in the unemployment rate and a pick-up in the supply of bank lending “isn’t on its own enough to put an end to the easing process,” it said.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s inflation rate probably rose in September, an increase that won’t jeopardize the Central Bank’s year-end target or upset its plans to cut the benchmark interest rate. Inflation accelerated to 5.7 percent from 5.3 percent in August, according to the median estimate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The statistics agency will announce the data at 5 p.m. in Ankara today. The rate was 5.2 percent in May, the lowest since July 1970.
source: Hurriyet daily news

Banking raises its Q2 profit 33 percent

meb — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:18:08 +0000

Turkish banking industry proves to be a high-profit business as its profit rises 33 percent to 11 billion Turkish Liras in the second quarter of the year. Although the banking industry has been displaying a great performance despite the global economic crisis, however the rising number of non-performing credits may be perceived alarming

The Turkish banking sector has increased its net profit by 33 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, official figures revealed.

The sector raised its net profit to 11 billion Turkish Liras, according to the quarterly Financial Markets Report prepared by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, or BRSA.

The sector’s deposit, participation and loan credit customers increased in the second quarter of the year. The proportion of non-performing credit card customers to total credit card customers reached 8 percent over the period, according to the report.

As of June, the banking sector’s total assets reached 768 billion liras. The contraction in domestic demand and the expectations souring with the global turmoil are expected to have slowed down the growth pace of loans, which constitute the largest element among total assets.

The sector’s total loans rose 7.4 percent in June over the corresponding period last year, to 368 billion liras. In line with the slow down of loans, the banks’ tendency to increase their placements in securities has continued. Deposits, which constitute the sector’s most important foreign resource, reached 468 billion liras.

The sector maintains its robust equity capital structure. In June, its aggregate equity capital reached 98 billion liras. In the first half of the year, the sector’s equity capital was 18 percent and its return on assets 2.2 percent.

Personal loans up in June

The BRSA report has revealed that personal loans rose as of June following a downtrend. The recent deterioration in interest rates has affected personal loans positively.

Compared to the previous quarter, consumer loans climbed 3.7 percent and credit cards 6 percent. The credit groups apart from personal loans generally dropped.

The Turkish banking sector’s capital adequacy ratio, which was 18.5 percent in March, rose to 19.2 percent in June. The banking sector’s overall profit surged 32.6 percent in June over a year earlier.

The increase in net interest revenues is reported to have played a role in the sector’s maintaining its high profitability. In the second quarter of the year, the rise in personal loans enabled a 29.7 percent rise in loan fees and commissions compared to the same period of last year. The sector’s equity grew 8 percent over a year earlier.

The banking sector’s overdue receivables rose by 9.6 percent to 18.8 billion liras in the second quarter of the year compared to the first quarter.

The global economic climate started to signal slow rally as of the second quarter of the year, according to the report. This year’s second quarter constitutes a significant period for normalization in financial markets, the report said.

Despite these positive developments, it is still important to keep the measures and the international commitment against the global crisis, it said, adding that possible languish in these fields are among the top risk factors.

The stagnation in the global economy affects Turkey’s foreign demand. The lack of efficiency in loan channels as well as the loan risk stemming from real sector and households’ indebtedness are still risk factors, according to the report.

It also noted that the measures encouraging the production and consumption contributed into the recovery of economic climate and confidence as of the second quarter of the year.

There are signals for better growth rates in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of the year, according to the report, which also stresses that the weak foreign and domestic demand has reduced inflation risk.
source: Hurriyet daily news

Banking watchdog predicts further recovery in Turkish economy in 2010

meb — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:03:20 +0000

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) has announced they expect the Turkish economy, which has already entered a recovery phase, to recuperate further in 2010, albeit gradually.

Evaluating the impacts of an ongoing global financial crisis on the Turkish economy in their “Financial Markets Report,” the banking watchdog said recent tax reductions in various sectors have contributed much to rejuvenation in the markets, adding that the current recovery trend is expected to continue in 2010.

The BDDK report estimates, however, that the recovery will not be instant but rather slower. Mentioning certain risks in the market, the report reads: “Although international markets signal the end of the crisis is not far away, a recovery will arrive only step by step, not directly. The fact that companies have difficulty accessing loan sources and the increasing debt of the private sector add to concerns that the crisis’ risks will prevail for some time.”

Underlining that the crisis’ shocks in foreign markets have also hit the Turkish economy, creating a volatile market atmosphere, the BDDK report noted that recent indices suggest that the country has started to see light at the end of the tunnel. Recalling that Turkey’s current account deficit declined by 75.7 percent in the January-June period of 2009 over the same months of 2008, the report said such a factor also increased hopes for recovery.
source: Today’s Zaman

Turkish banks maintain high profits despite crisis

meb — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:27:33 +0000

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.

According to figures released by the Turkish Banks Association (TBB), the total net profits of these 17 banks increased 23 percent in the first three months of 2009 when compared to the same period last year and rose from TL 2.94 billion to TL 3.61 billion. Of these banks, 13 were able to record an increase in their quarterly profits while Akbank, Şekerbank, Türkiye Kalkınma Bankası and Yapı Kredi Bankası witnessed a retreat in their profits compared to the same period a year ago.

The bank that scored the highest net profit in the first quarter was Garanti, which enjoyed a 43 percent increase in profits with TL 650.76 million, an increase over the same period in 2008. Akbank followed Garanti with TL 618.17 million, a decrease in profits when compared to the same period last year. İş Bankası ranked third with TL 605.83 million in the first three months while Yapı Kredi was occupied the fourth position with TL 493.45 million.

Assessing the figures, the TBB general secretary, Ekrem Keskin, draws attentions to the fact that the return on equities was 16.1 percent in March. “We should compare this number to the interest rates of Treasury bills and bonds, which are accepted as the investment instrument with the least risk. The annual return on the Treasury bill with 1-year-term was 14 percent on average as of March. That means the banks earned profits two points above the Treasury bills,” he said. However, this situation was not the same for all banks, he added, and went on to give details about the profit figures of the banking industry on the annual base. According to Keskin, the state-owned banks scored 18.7 percent in net profits while private commercial banks posted 12.4 percent net profits on average. The profits of the foreign banks operating in Turkey, however, were 9.3 percent. Considering these numbers, the margin between the profit rates of banks and the rate of return of the Treasury bills is positive only for a single group — the public banks. It is negative for the private banks and the foreign banks in Turkey, he said.

Keskin also underlined that the major factor determining the increase in the bank profits was the falling interest rates. “[This is] because the average term of the deposits in the banks is close to three months while the average term of loans by banks is one year. If the interest rates were higher, the profits of the banks would most probably be lower,” he said. Denizbank Financial Services Group President Hakan Ateş evaluated the continuing profits in the midst of a severe crisis as a result of correct strategies and years of prudential policies by Turkish banks. He said the Turkish banks steadily increased their support to non-financial sectors while simultaneously hedging their risks; avoided foreign exchange risks although foreign currency deposits constituted a considerable part of the total funds; and controlled costs at the same time as the balance sheet figures were continuously expanded. Ateş went on to say: “We kept our capital strength at high levels and so were able to manage the adversities of the global crisis and attain better results than the banks in other countries that received huge amounts of bailout money from the public authorities.” He further claimed that the high profitability of the banks will only be permanent if the quality of loans does not go beyond the manageable levels.

Deloitte Turkey auditing partner and the leader of Deloitte’s financial services industry, Sibel Türker, on the other hand noted that the Turkish banks were so strong when the world entered the economic crisis thanks to the lessons learned after the 2001 financial crisis in Turkey.
source:Today’s Zaman

ING to double size of Turkey operation

meb — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:08:16 +0000

ISTANBUL – ING Groep NV will stick to its plans to double the size of its operation in Turkey by 2012, daily Milliyet reported, citing John McCarthy, chairman of ING Bank Turkey.

The bank plans to open 125 new branches by 2012 to double the number it had in 2007, the newspaper quoted McCarthy as saying. ING bought Turkish lender Oyak Bank from the Turkish military pension fund Oyak for $2.7 billion in 2007.
source: Hurriyet daily news

Central Bank cuts key rate to record low

meb — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:49:41 +0000

Turkey’s Central Bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point, its fifth consecutive cut, as industrial production slumped and inflation slowed.

Central Bank cuts key rate to record low Ankara-based Central Bank reduced its overnight borrowing rate to 10.5 percent, a record low, Thursday. The reduction matched the median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Bank will release minutes of the meeting within eight working days.

Thursday’s cut means the Bank has shorn 6.25 percentage points from the benchmark rate in the past five months, joining policy makers globally in slashing the cost of borrowing as the global credit crisis bites. Industrial production declined an annual 21.3 percent in January, the most since records began in 1986.

“The economic growth outlook is absolutely dismal, unemployment is rising and I can’t see inflation coming from anywhere,” Tim Ash, head of research for central Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Royal at Royal Bank of Scotland in London told Bloomberg. “The Central Bank may possibly lower the rate below 10 percent this year.”

The Central Bank may continue with “measured” rate cuts as lower oil and commodity prices are supporting a drop in the inflation rate, the statement issued by the Bank said. The inflation rate may jump temporarily in March because of higher unprocessed food prices, the Bank added. Inflation eased in February to 7.7 percent, the slowest pace in a year and a half. The Bank’s fortnightly survey of businessmen and economists on March 9 showed expectations for inflation in 12 months time dropping to 6.7 percent from 6.88 percent, below the Bank’s goal of 7.5 percent for the year-end.

Unemployment rose to 13.6 percent in the three months through January, the highest in at least four years. The economy grew 0.5 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace in six years.

The economy is now believed to be heading into recession this year as the global financial crisis batters both exports and domestic demand, reported Reuters. Analysts warned the latest cut could add further pressure on the currency after recent weakness.

“They have indicated they wanted to keep the currency stable by re-launching foreign currency selling auctions so continuing to cut rates aggressively against that backdrop seems a risky strategy,” said Standard Chartered economist Manik Narain.

Analysts also said further rate cuts could harm the already ailing Turkish Lira in the absence of a new loan accord with the International Monetary Fund, or IMF.

“There is still IMF uncertainty and fiscal policy is unsupportive of further rate cuts, so there’s not a lot of room going further,” said Dresdner Kleinwort economist Özlem Arpaç. Meanwhile, the Central Bank cut the maximum interest rate banks may charge on late credit card payments to 3.96 percent monthly from 4.39 percent, CNN Türk reported Friday, without saying where it got the information.
source: Hurriyet daily news

Turkish banking sector to weather storm, remain strong in 2009

meb — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:45:11 +0000

The 2008 year-end figures released by banks in Turkey one after another with positive numbers on their balance sheets show that the finance sector in Turkey has maintained its health amid a forced slowdown in economic activities due to the ongoing global financial crisis.

Analysts now suggest that these figures have also enhanced confidence in and increased the security of Turkish banks since many of them boasted an increase in net profit, though by smaller margins than expected. As Turkish Central Bank Vice Governor Mehmet Yörükoğlu recently stated, the Turkish banking system is in extremely good condition now, thanks largely to the “successful regulations adopted after the 2001 economic crisis.” Turkey’s financial system has been able to steer clear of radical measures such as cash injections, unlike those of many developed nations.

A “wealth amnesty” program introduced by the government that allowed Turkish expatriates to bring in money held outside the Turkish banking system without being subjected to questions concerning the source of their funds, which recently ended successfully, having attracted TL 13.5 billion, has caused Turkish banks some relief as some of this money has been transferred into their coffers. Everyone is now hopeful that this will also help solve a major loan problem that the Turkish market has been suffering from since the emergence of the crisis. Banks in Turkey will be able to extend loans to the non-financial sector, whose companies have long been complaining about banks’ refusal to extend loans, plunging them into financial trouble as they could not pay their debts.

Sengül Dağdeviren, the chief economist at ING Bank, said they expected that banks in Turkey would not see a remarkable decline in their profits for the first half of the year despite stagnation in the economy and an increase in unpaid loans. The main factor behind this, argued Dağdeviren, is that banks were caught well prepared against the crisis and did not have serious liquidity problems. She also noted that the central bank’s moves to cut interest rates contributed greatly to the strength of the Turkish banking system.

Regarding the second half of the year, she noted that the state of the economy would mainly depend on whether consumer and investor confidence in the markets is maintained. Dağdeviren said the biggest problem that banks in Turkey would face this year will be a remarkable number of unpaid loans. However, as the central bank governor recently noted, the capital adequacy ratios of Turkish banks will not fall below the legally required level of 8 percent even in the event of a 15-point increase in overdue receivables. As of the end of February, the average capital adequacy ratio of Turkish commercial banks was around 18 percent. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) announced that this number was around 3.6 percent at the end of 2008. “This is a key indicator that the Turkish financial sector will make it through 2009, maintaining its strength,” the ING chief economist noted.

Sudi Apak, a retired professor of economics, said banks in Turkey owed their success and increase in profits despite the crisis in 2008 mainly to the fact that they earned huge profits in the first three months of the year. “This helped banks weather the storm to a great extent. But I think they will have some problems in 2009,” he noted, adding that some banks in Turkey face the threat of seeing losses through the end of the year. Stating that Citibank and Fortis, two foreign banks operating in Turkey, are facing serious financial problems, he said these banks’ branches had seen dramatic losses abroad, which would affect their branches in Turkey in 2009. Citing a recent speech by International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Apak said the crisis has now entered its third phase, this time striking the non-financial sector. “There should be production; domestic demand should be revived. The financial and non-financial sectors depend on one another,” he said. Apak noted that some negative developments, such as shrinking exports and the Turkish lira losing value against the US dollar, would delay the swift recovery expected in the market. Discussing the money that came into the country due to the wealth amnesty program, he said the program was a good move and would help ease the burden on banks, if only slightly. The amount of the incoming funds banks will use as loans, he said, would be around $3 billion.

Halkbank Vice General Manager Süleyman Aslan told Sunday’s Zaman that the Turkish banking sector was in good shape and that their profits would continue increasing, though not by as much as in 2008. “There is no problem as regards liquidity. There will be a 5 to 10 percent decline in banks’ profits in 2009,” he said, emphasizing that even in the worst-case scenario, they expected a 10 to 15 percent increase in the amount of loans extended by banks. “At this point, the interest rate cuts by the central bank have been very helpful in averting problems for the banking sector. We hope the central bank will cut interest rates further,” he said, also warning that there would be an increase in failure to repay loans during the course of the year.

“Residue from the crisis will be cleansed one way or another; we expect recovery after the second half of the year, which will stir the economy up again. We are hopeful the positive outlook will continue,” he noted.

The central bank has taken necessary precautions with its interest rate cuts. Discussing the state of foreign banks in 2009, he said he did not expect any losses for these, either. Local or foreign, the banks in Turkey are in good shape, he stressed. “The share of foreign banks in the Turkish banking sector is very low. Turkish banks will preserve their strength. The necessary arrangements have been made.”

In regard to the amount of money brought into the economy due to the wealth amnesty program, he said around $4 billion had been brought to Turkey so far, while $13.5 billion was only the amount people had declared. “We hope all the money will enter the banking system,” he said, noting that it was too early to calculate exact figures. The net amount will be known only after March 15, when banks are expected to release their financial statements to the Revenues Administration (GİB).

Banks still in safe waters amid turbulence

Yapı Kredi announced on Friday that the bank had increased its consolidated net profit by 45 percent to TL 1.26 billion, high above the average profit figures of banks in Turkey. In an exclusive interview with Sunday’s Zaman, Yapı Kredi General Manager Tayfun Bayazıt said the main problem currently prevailing in the Turkish banking sector was non-performing loans. “We have seen deterioration in bank asset quality, and around 4 to 5 percent of loans are unpaid in general,” he said, adding that loans extended to small businesses, in particular, would see a remarkable drop in 2009. “Credit cards will also pose some problems for the sector,” he noted. Bayazıt, however, stressed that despite any obstacles, banks in Turkey have strong capital adequacy ratios for the time being and expressed belief that they would eventually manage to emerge from the trouble safe and sound.

Turkey’s largest public bank, Ziraat Bank, recorded a net profit of YTL 2.13 billion for 2008, marking a 9 percent fall from the previous year. The profits of Albaraka Türk, a leading participation bank operating in Turkey’s interest-free banking industry, grew by 60 percent in 2008 over the previous year, reaching YTL 136.2 million. Its total assets increased by 30 percent to YTL 4.78 billion. Bank Asya, Turkey’s leading participation bank, announced that its net profits for 2008 rose to YTL 247 million, a 12 percent jump over 2007, when profits totaled YTL 221 million. DenizBank’s net profits grew by 15 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year, to YTL 342 million, while Şekerbank noted a boost of 17 percent in net profits last year to YTL 144 million. Garanti Bankası, a leading player in the Turkish banking industry, released its numbers for 2008 on Thursday, announcing a 15 percent rise in net profit. Akbank recorded YTL 1.78 billion in net profits in 2008, and the bank’s assets reached YTL 93 billion, a 29 percent increase from 2007. The amount in loans extended by the bank reached YTL 49 billion, having grown by 49 percent over the preceding year. Türk Ekonomi Bankası (TEB) increased its consolidated net profits to YTL 187 million in 2008, a jump of 27 percent over 2007 figures. The loans extended by the bank increased by 21 percent in 2008 from the preceding year.
source: Sunday’s Zaman

Stimulus to cost 17 bln TL

meb — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:26:11 +0000

Turkey’s fiscal stimulus measures, aimed to stimulate a sharply slowing economy and create more jobs, will cost 17 billion Turkish Liras in 2009, Deputy Prime Minister Nazım Ekren said yesterday.

The steps include financial support for companies to curb layoffs and expand infrastructure spending.

“For the whole of 2009, the package which puts emphasis on public sector infrastructure investments and [stimulating] aggregate demand totals 17 billion liras,” the Anatolia news agency quoted Ekren as saying during a trip to Washington.

Ekren is scheduled to meet International Monetary Fund, or IMF, officials as part of Turkey’s protracted talks on a new IMF loan accord to help the country weather the global economic crisis. He said Parliament last week passed measures worth 5.5 billion liras in an effort to slow a sharp economic slowdown. The IMF expects Turkey’s once booming economy to shrink 1.5 percent in 2009. The government retains an official 4 percent growth target.

The government will announce a medium-term fiscal program in a month, Ekren said. “I want to share that the fiscal loosening in 2009, caused by the global crisis, will disappear in the medium term.” Turkey’s narrow taxpayer base, a large informal economy and several past crises, partly caused by poor state finances, make creditors nervous about fiscal expansion steps.
source: Hurriyet daily news

ING becomes official sponsor of F1 Turkey leg

meb — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:18:55 +0000

ING Group has announced plans to be the official sponsor of the Turkey leg of Formula 1 race, which take place in Istanbul Park on June 5-7, 2009.

The Istanbul leg of the face will be known as the Formula 1 ING Turkey Grand Prix.

ING Bank’s Retail Banking Deputy Director General Vincent van den Boogert said the bank, which entered the Turkish banking sector strongly, was pleased to sponsor such an important and prestigious organization.

The ING Group has been the title sponsor of the ING Renault F1 team for the past three years. The group has also sponsored the Grand Prix in Australia, Belgium and Hungary.

The finalized F1 sponsorship agreement is due to expire at the end of 2009; however, the group said it will continue its support as formal title sponsor of Formula 1 in Turkey.

The Dutch global financial company, ING Group, operates in more than 50 countries and offers private and corporate banking, insurance and asset management services.
source: Hurriyet Daily News