Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) Chairman Sekib Avdagic evaluated the Turkish economy and the 2023-2025 Medium Term Program (OVP) at the ITO Ordinary Assembly meeting. Stressing that many countries, including developing economies, have begun to implement comprehensive incentive packages against the contraction in 2021, Sekib Avdagic said: “Inflation, which has started to increase globally, happened as countries were late to withdraw from monetary expansion. The Turkish economy showed a more positive performance than the world under the pandemic conditions.”
Touching on the OVP, Avdagic stated that the OVP gives clues about the fundamental policies for the upcoming period and its primary goal overlaps with that of the business world. “We believe that basic goals and policies will comply with each other,” the ITO Chairman said, stressing that the correlation between macro variables must closely be monitored. “Rapid reactions and measures against developments on correlation must be continued. We attach importance to the government’s focus on reducing high inflation. Low inflation is the key to development and social welfare. Continued, determined work in this direction along with measures to ensure price stability are among our expectations.”
With Ukraine’s grain exports ongoing under a landmark deal amid the war, Turkey said yesterday that there would be shipment of grain from Russia soon as well. “We want grain shipments from Russia to start as well, we expect this,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a news conference with his Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanovic in the capital Zagreb, the last stop of his three-day Balkan tour. Erdogan said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “right” that Ukraine’s grain “unfortunately” goes to the rich countries, not to poor ones. “While sanctions against Russia continue, on the other hand, grain shipments to the countries that impose these sanctions are disturbing Putin,” he said. Erdogan added he will discuss this issue with Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan in September.
Turkey’s benchmark stock index ended yesterday at another record-high of 3,437.41 points. Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 Index gained 1.02% or 34.61 points from Wednesday’s close of 3,402.81 points with a daily trading volume of TRY 111.4bn. While the ongoing concerns over inflation and the recession affect asset prices and equity markets have been on an upward course following the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s statements and the historic interest rate hike by the European Central Bank, Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index positively differentiated from its rivals. Analysts said 3,1370 points will be the support level and 3,500 points will be the resistance level for the BIST 100 index, in technical terms.
Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years. She was the only female royal family member to have entered the armed forces. Elizabeth II was the world’s best-traveled head of state, as she visited more than 110 countries but never used a passport as she did not have one. She was also the only person in the UK who was allowed behind the wheel of a car without a driver’s license. Her official visit to then-West Germany in 1965 was the first German visit by a British royal since before the outbreak of World War I. Elizabeth visited Turkey twice: Once in 1971, making stops in the capital Ankara plus Izmir, Istanbul, and the historical Ephesus and Canakkale, and a briefer visit in 2008, which also included the northwestern city of Bursa.
DAILY AGENDA
No critical data will be released.
Meanwhile…
>> Foreign investors’ net equity acquisitions totaled USD 97m, while their net government debt securities and corporate bond outflows from Turkey amounted to USD 63.5m and USD 9.4m, respectively in the week ending on September 2, according to the Central Bank.
>> Residents’ FX deposit accounts fell by USD 327m in the week ending on September 2, according to parity-adjusted data from the Central Bank.
>> The Central Bank’s international net reserves rose by USD 1.46bn to USD 14.83bn in the week ending on September 2, compared to the previous week. The bank’s total reserves amounted to USD 111.9bn in the same period.
>> The total amount in FX-protected TRY deposit accounts (KKM) reached TRY 1.3tr in the week ending on September 2, according to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).
>> The banking sector’s total deposits amounted to TRY 7.76tr in the week ending on September 2, according to BDDK.
>> The Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Turkey Manufacturing Export Climate Index dropped from the threshold of 50.0 points to 48.8 in August, compared to the previous month.
>> Turkish airports saw 118.6 million passengers in the January-August period, up 56.9% from a year ago, according to the State Airports Authority General Directorate (DHMI).
