Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at October 20th, 2011

Turkey’s unemployment rate fell 1.5 percentage points to 9.1 percent for the period between June and August, according to data published today by Turkey’s official statistical agency (TÜİK).

The number of unemployed fell by 273,000 to 2.50 million people in the period compared to the same period last year.

Urban unemployment fell by 1.7 points to 11.5 percent, whereas rural unemployment fell by 0.8 points to 4.7 percent. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 20th, 2011

The Turkish Central Bank’s already moderate foreign exchange reserves, which fell to $85.9 billion Turkish Liras as of Oct. 14 down from $93 billion at the end of July, signal a risky shrink as the bank continues to sell U.S. dollars in a bid to defend the value of the lira.

The figure announced by the bank yesterday comes after a big campaign of dollar sales that started this week. The Central Bank sold more than $1 billion in total on Oct. 18 in a direct intervention and a daily auction. It sold an additional $750 million of dollars in yesterday’s auction.

The bank has sold $6.45 billion since it started its daily forex auctions on Aug. 5. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 20th, 2011

This is the best time to invest in Turkey, according to a recent report that will be presented to U.S. investors and fund managers who decide on the flow of millions of dollars in funds.

The Boston Consulting Group’s Turkey branch and the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK) will present today a report on the “Global Advantage of Turkey” at the Turkey Investment Conference in New York, hosted by the American Turkish Society and Goldman Sachs.
Automobiles, textiles, chemicals, steel and food are underlined as export champion industries in the report. It also emphasizes Turkey’s importance technologically and socially, not just the country’s strategic importance. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 26th, 2011

As the entire world is now struggling to decide if states’ efforts to develop nuclear energy should continue after what recently happened in Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following the March 11 twin earthquake and tsunami disasters, there is also an ongoing public debate in Turkey: People wonder if the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government is doing the right thing as it seems determined to go ahead with its ambitious nuclear energy program. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 26th, 2011

The chairman of Turkcell, Turkey’s leading mobile phone operator, has started talks to resolve disputes after an annual general meeting last week, said the company in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange, or ISE, on Monday.

TeliaSoner, 38 percent stakeholder in the company, said earlier Friday that the Turkcell board was in a deadlock after shareholders on Thursday failed to agree on removing Chairman Colin Williams and on a dividend from profits last year, Bloomberg reported Friday. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 26th, 2011

Some 2.1 million tourists visited Turkey in the first quarter of 2011, an increase over last year, the Turkish Hoteliers’ Federation, or TÜROFED, said last week, Anatolia news agency reported.

According to a TÜROFED tourism report, the first-quarter numbers for 2011 were 17.6 percent rise over last year’s figures of 1.8 million for the same period.

“The first-quarter figures indicate we can easily achieve our year-end target,” TÜROFED Chairman Ahmet Barut said at a press conference in Istanbul. Turkey received most of its tourists from Germany, Russia and Britain. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 21st, 2011

Amid recent debates over creating a domestic car brand in Turkey, a Turkish wagon company has already managed to produce a domestic train named the Anatolia.

The train will run on diesel, making it highly attractive for markets whose transportation system is mainly designed for diesel, the top official of Turkish Wagon Industry, Inc., (TÜVASAŞ), the producer of the trains, told Today’s Zaman.

The country’s first domestic diesel train Anatolia was put on the tracks during a ceremony on Tuesday in the northwestern province of Sakarya. TÜVASAŞ General Manager İbrahim Ertiryaki told Today’s Zaman that the latest available technology was used in producing the wagons, 85 percent of which were produced locally. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 21st, 2011

Ankara’s subway system, which has yet to be completed despite 10 years of construction and 814 million Turkish Liras of investment, will receive another 3.1 billion liras from the Transportation Ministry to finish the line, authorities have said.

Subway work between Keçiören and the train station, Kızılay and Ümitköy, as well as between Sincan and Batıkent, will be launched simultaneously and completed within two years, according to the ministry’s plans, Transportation Minister Habib Soluk told journalists Tuesday.

The 44.4-kilometer-long Ankara metro line will cost the ministry 3.17 billion liras, Soluk said. (more…)