Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at November 26th, 2008

Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank will provide 700 to 750 million YTL ($445- 480 million) to the economy, Bank Chief Executive Huseyin Aydin said on Wednesday.

The bank would secure $200 million of funding from the World Bank and 300 million euros from the European Investment Bank and had already used 80 million euros from the French development agency, Aydin said at Ankara Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Halkbank had earlier this month announced that it would loan 1.5 billion ($900 million) to Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) during the coming period following the government’s decision to supply low-cost credit to small businesses. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 25th, 2008

A deal between Ankara and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be a stand-by agreement, but the amount of the deal has not yet been determined, Vatan newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing a government source.

Turkey is still talking with the IMF on a new loan accord and no agreement has been reached on the volume of the credit, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

The Vatan report said the government would opt for a regular deal as opposed to a precautionary stand-by deal. The government has repeatedly said it prefers a precautionary deal that does not issue funds automatically but allows the government to draw money on merit. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 25th, 2008

A report released by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Tuesday that Turkey’s economic growth would drop below 2 percent in 2009.

The report said Turkey’s economy had slowed down in 2008 as domestic demand shrank due to a global financial crisis and turmoil in financial markets. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 25th, 2008

A senior official from the Turkish Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade said on Tuesday that the trade volume between Turkey and African countries increased by 113 percent thanks to the implementation of an improvement strategy targeting the African market.

Tuncer Kayalar, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade, told the Anatolian news agency that Turkey’s exports to African countries rose up to 5.9 billion USD, while its imports from such countries increased to 6.8 billion USD in 2007.

“We expect export figures to reach 9.5 billion USD by the end of 2008,” Kayalar said.

Kayalar said African countries not only constituted an ideal market for exports, but also they offered cheap raw materials for industrial activities. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 25th, 2008

Thanks to its solid banking system, Turkey is a substantial financial market despite a difficult global environment, according to Clare Dawson, executive director of the Loan Market Association. But funding from Europe will be increasingly harder

Turkish banks are considered safe and reputable players in world markets despite the current financial turmoil, according to the Loan Market Association of London.

The Loan Market Association, or LMA, founded in 1996 by seven leading banks in London, organized a training event regarding the current conditions of the European loan markets and their activities.

The association, which has over 400 members including banks, law firms, institutional investors and information providers, aims to encourage liquidity and efficiency in loan markets by promoting market depth and transparency, developing standard forms of documentation and codes of market practice. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 25th, 2008

Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, has signed a $530 million syndicated loan to back the acquisition of Turkish fuel distributor Akpet, banking sources close to the deal said Friday.

The loan, which launched to syndication in September, originally totaled $610 million but was subsequently reduced because of difficult market conditions, according to Reuters. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 25th, 2008

The government has prepared and is about to put into action a wide-ranging and challenging action plan to eliminate the unregistered economy, which is accepted as seriously affecting the Turkish economy. More than 40 percent of the labor force is illegally employed in Turkey.

The Action Plan against the Unrecorded Economy comprises 105 major regulations and aims to make the fight a top priority for the state regardless of which political party is in power.

The plan, which will be put into action by the Social Security Institution (SGK), the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), the Capital Markets Board (SPK), the Customs Undersecretariat, the Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK) and the State Planning Organization (DPT), is expected to be fully implemented within two years. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 24th, 2008

Turkish stocks jumped nearly 10 percent on Monday on positive global markets and action by the Turkish government to boost the slowing economy, including a likely deal with the IMF.

Istanbul’s main share index closed 9.88 percent up at 24,137.02 points.

Turkey’s lira also firmed to 1.59 against the dollar, 2.93 percent stronger than the currency’s close on Friday at 1.6745.

Stocks on Wall Street also rose further on Monday after data showed U.S. existing-home sales fell in October about in line with expectations, adding to earlier gains on the government’s $20 billion injection of new capital into Citigroup. (more…)