Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at March 22nd, 2009

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. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 22nd, 2009

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. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 5th, 2009

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. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 18th, 2009

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. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 16th, 2009

Akbank, Turkey’s biggest bank by market value, said full-year profit dropped 15 percent as the credit crisis increased the cost of funding and lending fell. Net income at the Istanbul-based lender fell to 1.7 billion Turkish Liras ($1.03 billion) from 1.99 billion liras a year earlier, the bank said Friday in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

That missed the 1.83 billion liras median estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The global crisis started by the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market in 2007 has made it more expensive for companies like Akbank to borrow abroad to fund lending. Turkish banks’ loan growth slowed to 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency said Feb. 10. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 15th, 2009

As recent declines in mortgage interest rates have attracted borrowers, banks have seen a slight increase in the number of mortgages extended, leading politicians and consumers unions to accuse the banks of being opportunistic and of misinforming customers.

Under the strain of the ongoing global financial turbulence, people have delayed their expenditures, waiting for a better time to meet some of their demands, such as buying a house. At the same time, in such a volatile market environment, consecutive declines in mortgage interest rates by four major banks in Turkey — Yapı Kredi, Ziraat Bankası, Halkbank and HSBC — paved the way for a slight increase in loans. But some claim that this process poses critical problems for customers in the long run and suggest that banks are attracting customers, introducing to them seemingly low interest rates and then adding extra charges without giving borrowers the necessary information. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 12th, 2009

Producer Price Index  (2003=100) (TURKSTAT) (Monthly)
Consumer Price Index (2003=100) (TURKSTAT) (Monthly)

(% Changes)    PPI        CPI
01-2008       0.42      0.80
02-2008       2.56      1.29
03-2008       3.17      0.96
04-2008       4.50      1.68
05-2008       2.12      1.49
06-2008       0.32     -0.36
07-2008       1.25      0.58
08-2008      -2.34     -0.24
09-2008      -0.90      0.45
10-2008       0.57      2.60
11-2008      -0.03      0.83
12-2008      -3.54     -0.41
01-2009       0.23      0.29
source: Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey

Posted by meb at February 12th, 2009

Some owners of Akbank, Turkey’s biggest lender by market value, including members of the Sabancı family, registered shares equal to an 8.4 percent stake for sale on the Istanbul Stock Exchange yesterday.

Key investors to sell stake in Turkey’s Akbank The time limit for the sale of about 251 million shares, worth about $640 million at current market prices, is between 10 and 20 years, according to a filing on the exchange’s Web site. The stake represents about 23 percent of Akbank’s free float. (more…)