Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at July 11th, 2008

Turkey’s foreign direct investments (FDI) fell by 45.5 percent to 6 billion dollars in the first five months of 2008 compared to the same period of last year, the Treasury Undersecretariat announced in a statement on Friday.

A total of $649 million of foreign direct investment flowed into Turkey in May, the statement read.

The equity investment inflow component of the international direct investment inflows reached up $5 billion in the same period, with $2.8 billion of this amount flowing into the financial intermediation sector, according to the latest figures.

In the first five months of 2008, 1,239 companies and branch offices with international capital have been established and 280 international capital participations to the existing domestic companies incurred the statement also read.

According to the latest figures, FDI during the January-May term reached $11 billion in Turkey. (more…)

Posted by meb at July 2nd, 2008

The İstanbul Stock Exchange benchmark index (İMKB-100) yesterday fell 5.36 percent, closing at 33,208.2 points, the lowest level in more than two years, at the end of the day.

The index was just below the 35,000 support level at the opening of the session but soon started to fall rapidly with the news that two former top-level military officials and Ankara Chamber of Trade (ATO) Chairman Sinan Aygün, together with 22 others, were taken into custody as part of an ongoing investigation into Ergenekon — a neo-nationalist gang thought to have links to the state and military. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 10th, 2008

The Turkish lira (YTL) had the biggest weekly decline against the dollar in more than two months after the country’s highest court threw out a law liberalizing the wearing of Islamic headscarves, fueling speculation the ruling party may be banned. The depreciation of the YTL, while helping exports, is also hurting some companies, as first quarter results of three companies show.

The YTL fell to a two-week low after the Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that legislation allowing students to wear headscarves was contrary to the secular system. The case signaled prosecutors may try to remove Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) from office. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 3rd, 2008

The Turkey director of the World Bank has stated that the preparation process for the bank’s Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) with Turkey has been completed. Ulrich Zachau, World Bank director for Turkey, held a meeting with representatives from the Gaziantep chambers of commerce and industry on Monday.

Speaking to reporters prior to the meeting, Zachau said the CPS between Turkey and the World Bank will cover the next four years. He noted that cooperation on items such as research and activities concerning economic policies and financing would be carried out within the context of the strategy. “The amount of financing will reach $6.2 billion within the next four years,” Zachau said. (more…)

Posted by meb at May 27th, 2008

Amid a global credit crunch that stemmed from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and growing domestic concerns over the closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, the U.S. dollar may climb to YTL 1.50 in the upcoming period, a recent survey has revealed.

Turkish capital and money markets are basing their game plans upon three scenarios, according to the views of 20 analysts surveyed by business daily Referans. (more…)

Posted by meb at May 21st, 2008

The total assets of Turkey’s financial sector grew by 15 percent to YTL 768.6 billion in 2007 over the preceding year, according to a report released yesterday by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK)

The BDDK’s Financial Stability Report for 2007 noted that despite all fiscal measures that were taken in the United States, the US economy had fallen into a slight recession; however, the report stated that the slowdown in euro zone economies, which are more important for the Turkish economy, is not as serious or disruptive. In emerging economies growth continued in the second half of 2007 despite declines in growth rates. (more…)

Posted by meb at May 20th, 2008

The İzmir Mercantile Exchange, a cotton-trading pit, or corbeille, in the heart of the Aegean region, facing tough times due to an increase in imports of cotton and yarn and a severe stagnation in overall demand, has gone for many days without a single transaction.

Everyone at the historic corbeille, which opens at 12:20 p.m. everyday and closes 10 minutes later, designating the price of cotton for the entire country, agrees that the slowdown in the cotton market stems from the stagnation of textile production, as well as an increase in the imports of cotton and yarn. The lack of pricing from the corbeille has increased the pessimism of agents who trade on behalf of other individuals and firms in the industry. (more…)

Posted by meb at May 19th, 2008

While a number of IPOs have been postponed in the wake of the İstanbul Stock Exchange’s (İMKB) steady slide this year, the record-breaking sale of a 15 percent stake in Türk Telekom will act as a boon for the bourse despite reservations surrounding the low pricing of the shares.

On May 13, shares in the IPO, which were allocated on a 60:40 ratio to local and foreign investors respectively, were priced at YTL 4.6 each, close to the top of the 3.9-4.7 price range set by the Privatization Administration (ÖİB). Demand for shares among Turkish investors was 4.7 times higher than the amount on offer, and 4.3 times higher from international investors. The IPO fetched a total of YTL 2.42 billion ($1.9 billion), a record figure for the İMKB, giving Türk Telekom a market value of $12.95 billion. (more…)