Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati, who visited the U.S. to attend the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings and spring meetings for international financial institutions informed the public about his Washington meetings on Twitter. Nebati, who convened with portfolio investors at the Investors Conference organized by the American investment bank JP Morgan on the third day of meetings, said that he discussed recent developments and the opportunities offered by Turkey within the frame of the Turkey Economy Model. “We are highly pleased that the interest in Turkey continually increases,” Nebati added. The Treasury and Finance Minister met with COP 26 President Alok Sharma on the sideline of the events. “We emphasized the importance of our collaboration in terms of the Paris Agreement and COP 26 goals. We also discussed the importance of taking consultation-oriented actions to implement new green projects,” he noted. Nureddin Nebati also convened with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director Makhtar Diop. “We expressed our determination to create a carbon-free economic development and growth model,” Nebati added. The parties also discussed strengthening cooperation for the ongoing projects. The Treasury and Finance Minister also stated that he held a ‘productive’ meeting with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde about global economic developments.
Analyses are being made about Turkey on the sideline of the events. Robert Brooks, the Chief Economist of the Institute of International Finance, said he thought that the importance of ‘people’ will increase in the long term in the country. Stressing that this has been a surprise for him, Brooks added that deterioration in other countries shows Turkey as relatively better and there is a large amount of RUB inflow to Turkey.
Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Bilgin said workers, employees, civil servants, and retirees are important social partners in working life. Speaking at an iftar meal held at Suleyman Demirel Congress Center, Bilgin announced that the government would make regulations to protect workers, public employees, civil servants, and retirees against the damage of the inflation process in July.
The Central Bank released the summary of the Monetary Policy Committee (PPK) meeting held on April 14, when the bank kept the interest rate unchanged at 14%. The summary reiterated the following statement: “In formulating the monetary policy towards achieving a sustainable price stability objective, a liraization-oriented approach that also addresses risks to financial stability will continue to be pursued,” the summary said, “The Committee also assesses that credit growth, including long-term investment loans, and the targeted usage of accessed funds for real economic activity are important for financial stability. In this context, the Committee decided to strengthen the macroprudential policy set,” the statement read.
DAILY AGENDA
The number of newly established companies rose by 2.8% to 10,879 and the number of closed companies jumped 39.8% to 973 in March, compared to the same month last year, according to the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).
The number of domestic journeys increased by 23.2% to 52.7 million in 2021 year-over-year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
The Financial Services Confidence Index surged by 13.4 points to 178.7 points in April, as compared to March, according to the Central Bank.
The Central Bank will release the Financial Accounts report for the last quarter of 2021 (2.30 pm).
Meanwhile…
>> The Contemporary Istanbul Foundation is organizing a charity exhibition in collaboration with Istanbul Artist Residency and Ukrainian curator Polina Somochkina to raise funds for Ukrainian children that have suffered as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. The exhibition called ‘Make Art for Peace’ will be held on April 28 – May 1 in Fisekhane, a heritage site in Istanbul’s historic Zeytinburnu district.
>> Two batches of Kinder Schoko Bons products will be withdrawn from the market due to the suspected salmonella bacteria. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announced this given the Salmonella bacteria detected in some Kinder branded products manufactured in Belgium.
>> The minimum capital criteria for investments provided with a project-based government incentive has been raised from TRY 500m to TRY 1bn, according to a Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette.
>> Residents’ FX deposit accounts increased from USD 215.6bn to USD 216.73bn in the week ending on April 15, compared to the previous week, according to the Central Bank.
>> The total amount in FX-protected TRY deposit accounts rose from TRY 726.66bn to TRY 756.62bn in the week ending on April 15, compared to the previous week, according to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).
>> Foreign investors’ net equity, government debt securities (GDS), and corporate bond acquisitions totaled USD 26.9m, USD 36.8m, and TRY 0.2m respectively, in the week ending on April 15, according to the Central Bank.
>> The Central Bank’s international net reserves increased by USD 824m from USD 18.3bn to USD 19.12bn in the week ending on April 15, compared to the previous week. The bank’s total reserves rose from USD 109.91bn to USD 112.29bn in the same period.
>> BDDK has approved the establishment of the participation bank called Hayat Katilim Bankasi AS.
