The world struggles with high inflation and unemployment and the impact of inflation on the overall economy should benoted, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking after the Cabinet meeting, President Erdogan said they try to eliminate the adverse impact of inflation by balancing the income of each segment. Touching on the ongoing impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war, Erdogan noted that they aim to bring together Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey to open the way to set the seal on the crisis. Announcing his three-nation Balkan tour scheduled for the first week of September, Erdogan said Turkey pays special importance to the Balkans. Erdogan also noted that the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) has set the corn purchase price at TRY 5,700 per ton.
The measures taken by Turkey to fight against high inflation will increase pressure on the budget, according to the U.S.-based international credit rating agency Moody’s. The institution stated that Turkey faces high pressures on its foreign position due to its high energy import bill. Moody’s also noted that Turkish officials have started to gradually apply unorthodox measures to stabilize TRY and restore FX buffers.
Turkey doubled oil imports from Russia this year, compared to last year. Turkey’s oil imports from Russia rose from 98,000 barrels to over 200,000 barrels this year, according to Refinitiv. The data also showed that Koc Holding’s subsidiary Turkiye Petrol Rafinerileri AS and Azerbaijan-based SOCAR’s STAR Refinery have substantially raised oil imports from Russia and decreased oil imports from Iraq, the North Sea, and Western Africa. The data said TUPRAS will daily purchase around 111,000 barrels of oil from Russia in January-August. The figure was 45,000 barrels compared to the same period last year. Western countries imposed successive sanctions on Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Foreign trade between Turkey and Russia has increased with the impact of the gap created by Western companies
Turkey’s benchmark stock index ended yesterday at 3,062.49 points, up 1.4% from last week’s close, hitting a record high. Starting the week at 3,017.68 points, Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index gained 42.29 points from the previous close. The total market value of the BIST 100 was around TRY 2.42tr by market close, with a daily trading volume of TRY 67.67bn. Borsa Istanbul has differentiated positively since last week under the leadership of banking stocks following the Central Bank’s rate cut and macroprudential policies for commercial loans, according to analysts. They said the upward trend continues on the BIST 100 index following the Central Bank’s decisions in the country while the uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision pressures equity markets abroad. Analysts also stated that 3,030 points will be the support level and 3,090 points will be the resistance levels for the BIST 100 index, in technical terms.
Two more ships have left Ukrainian ports under the Istanbul grain export deal, according to a statement from the National Defense Ministry. Since the first ship left Ukraine under the deal on August 1, over 656,000 tons of Ukrainian grain have been delivered to world markets.
DAILY AGENDA
The consumer confidence index soared 6.1% from 68.0 points to 72.2 points in August, compared to the previous month, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
Meanwhile…
>> Turkey attracted over 23 million foreign visitors in the first seven months of the year, an annual surge of 128.28%, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
>> The price of gasoline has been raised by TRY 0.81, according to Daily DUNYA.
>> The restructured debt amount of the large-scaled companies totaled TRY 7bn in June, according to the Banks Association of Turkey (TBB). TRY 25bn debt of companies was restructured in the first half of the year as part of the Framework Agreements on Financial Restructuring. No agreement was signed with small-sized enterprises in June.
READ A SELECTED ARTICLE FROM OUR MAGAZINE:
>> Investment outflows exceed investment inflows
FDI in Turkey remained below ODI for the first time in the first six months of the year, according to Daily DUNYA Editorial Coordinator and Columnist Talip Aktas.