Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at April 15th, 2011

Turkish Airlines has launched direct Istanbul-Arbil flights, the latest sign of the developing relations between Turkey and the Regional Kurdish Administration in northern Iraq. Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek welcomed Iraqi Kurds at a ceremony in Arbil, saying in Kurdish, ‘We have been brothers for a thousand years. No one can destroy this!

Northern Iraq, on what was once one of the most disputed Turkish borders, is closer to Turkey than ever in both economic and political terms. Speaking in Kurdish during a visit Thursday, the Turkish finance minister reiterated the ruling government’s support fro the Iraqi Kurdish region. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 11th, 2011

Aiming for growth in parallel with the fuel oil market in Turkey, BP’s local branch plans to open 40 new filling stations in the Turkish market this year, a written statement from BP Turkey said Friday.

Speaking at the Petroleum Istanbul 2011 fair that started Thursday, BP Turkey Fuel Manager Richard Harding said BP offers service quality to its customers with more than 600 filling stations in Turkey.

“We target a strong growth in 2011 in parallel with the fuel oil market. We plan to expand our station network, increase productivity and take 40 more stations in operation,” Harding said. “Being a company that has invested in the Turkish energy sector and economy since 100 years, we will continue investing with our innovative perspective in the upcoming period.” (more…)

Posted by meb at April 11th, 2011

Turkey’s current-account deficit more than doubled in February over a year earlier, the 14th consecutive widening in a measure the Central Bank says it is trying to contain.

The deficit rose from $2.7 billion to $6.1 billion in the same month of 2010, the Central Bank in Ankara said Monday on its website. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of nine economists was for a gap of $6.3 billion.

The cumulative deficit for the 12 months through February was $54.8 billion, or about 7 percent of estimated gross domestic product. The government’s medium-term plans forecast a gap of $42.2 billion, or 5.4 percent of GDP. (more…)

Posted by meb at April 11th, 2011

Turkey’s gross domestic product, which grew 8.2 percent in 2010, is expected to register a 4.6 percent growth rate this year, according to a recent report from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF.

The 2011 World Economic Outlook report of the IMF read that the global economy will grow by 4.4 percent this year and by 4.5 percent in 2012. IMF published the first and second parts of the report Monday.

The economic outlook report expects Turkey’s GDP to grow by 4.6 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2012. Rapid economic recovery in Turkey is forecasted to continue according to the economic outlook report of the IMF. The consumer price index, which grew by 8.6 percent in annual basis last year, is expected to show a 5.7 percent increase in 2011 and 6 percent in 2012. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

The Turkish economy has registered superb improvement in competitiveness in recent years and proven its potential as a magnet for international investors, world-renowned strategist Professor Michael Porter has said. Addressing a group of businessmen and reporters on Saturday at a conference organized by İşTcell, a Turkcell brand directed at corporate customers, Porter, director of Harvard Business School’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, said that if Turkey were traded on the stock market, he would definitely make an equity investment in the country.

During the first part of his speech, Porter described the major premises of creating strategies and determining and developing a competitive approach and the role of leaders in the competitiveness of a company. He also shared his views on possible strategies that may be adopted during times of economic crisis. He devoted the second part of his speech to discussing Turkey’s economic strategies, including an in-depth analysis of the business world’s role in these strategies. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

The central administration budget for 2010, which focuses on overcoming the economic crisis, was submitted for Parliament’s approval on Saturday and includes no specific reference to a potential stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Disclosing the details of the new budget at a press conference on Saturday, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said Turkey had prepared its budget while taking into consideration its own needs and the conditions arising from the economic crisis, underlining that talks with the IMF would “proceed on the premises set out in the budget.”

The size of the 2010 budget is TL 286.93 billion. It includes a 5.06 percent wage increase for civil servants, in two equal semiannual installments of 2.5 percent. With expected revenue of TL 236.8 billion, the deficit will be approximately TL 50 billion.

According to experts, Finance Ministry bureaucrats maintained caution while drafting the budget. The economic gloom in Turkey will persist next year, and the government will stick to its policy of fiscal discipline, they note. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

The number of mobile phones sold in the first half of this year was down 8 percent over the same period of the previous year, thanks largely to an increased propensity for saving amid a global economic crisis, despite promotions offered by mobile operators, a recent survey has shown.

The Turkey division of the international research company GfK found in a market survey that nearly 450,000 less mobile phones were sold in the first six months of the year. In the January-June period of 2008, Turks purchased 5.46 million devices, whereas they bought slightly more than 5 million phones in the same period of this year. (more…)

Posted by meb at October 19th, 2009

The Turkish Investment Summit opens at the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel in London on Tuesday.

The three-day program will provide plenty of time for social networking, acquiring new contacts and discussing business with potential partners and clients.

Organized by the Turkish Embassy in London and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Turkish Investment Summit will provide an in-depth look into the global and domestic outlook for Turkey, including a spotlight on European Union accession. (more…)