Turkey, Finland, and Sweden signed a memorandum yesterday on the Nordic countries’ bids for NATO membership following four-way talks in Madrid. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto, and Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson met to discuss the issue and Ankara’s related concerns. The memorandum was signed by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Finland, and Sweden in the presence of all three national leaders and Stoltenberg. Stoltenberg said the signed memorandum addresses Turkey’s concerns about arms exports and the fight against terrorism.
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet one-on-one with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today on the sidelines of the NATO summit. The U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that the two leaders would focus on “strategic issues” between Washington and Ankara as well as regional issues. In the meantime, U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Turkey, Sweden, and Finland on Twitter after they agreed on a memorandum that paved the way for the two Nordic nations’ accession to NATO.
Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati reiterated at additional budget talks that the government has the necessary experience and equipment for the fight against inflation. “We’ll successfully reduce inflation in a short time. We are demonstrating maximum effort so that our citizens can be less affected by the price surge in this period,” Nebati said.
The Central Bank will resist an interest rate hike as much as possible, according to the France-based multinational investment bank and financial services company Societe Generale. The institution forecasted in its latest report that the policy rate will remain at 14% for the next 12 months, and that annual inflation will exceed 80% in the next few months. The report said TRY is expected to continue to devaluate and TRY may be more rapidly sold due to inflation and high energy prices.
The Minimum Wage Determination Commission convenes today following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement on Monday. The commission, which will consist of 15 representatives from the employee segment, the employer party, and the government, will discuss the necessary increase in the minimum wage for the second half of 2022. Since it’s the first meeting, no concrete number is expected to be announced. However, a decision is expected shortly. The commission is expected not to follow regular procedure in this process.
DAILY AGENDA
The economic confidence index dropped by 3.3% from 96.7 points to 93.6 points in June, compared to the previous month, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) will release the banking sector statistics for May (2.00 p.m.).
The Minimum Wage Determination Commission will convene under the presidency of Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Bilgin (2.00 p.m.).
The Parliament will continue to discuss the legislative proposal for the 2022 Central Government Budget Law and relevant tables (2.00 p.m.).
Meanwhile…
>> The monthly food expenditure required for a healthy, balanced, and sufficient nutrition of a family consisting of four people (hunger limit) amounted to TRY 6,391, according to a survey conducted by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TURK-IS). In addition to food expenditures, the amount needed to secure the necessities of life, such as housing (electricity, water, heating, etc.), clothing, transportation, education, health, etc. (poverty line) totaled TRY 20,818. The monthly cost of living for a single employee rose to TRY 8,313.
>> The Law for the Istanbul Finance Center was enacted after being published in the Official Gazette.
>> Residents’ stock assets rose by 87.7% from TRY 405.3bn to TRY 760.7bn in May, year-over-year, according to the Turkish Capital Markets Association (TSPB). Their financial assets surged by 80% from TRY 5.71tr to TRY 10.24tr in the same period.
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>> Mohammed bin Salman and his money
Daily DUNYA columnist Fatih Ozatay analyses Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Turkey in the light of the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves.
