While the official number of daily COVID-19 cases fell to 37,312, the government aims to reduce the figure below 5,000 as soon as possible not to be left behind Europe, which has started to enter a reopening process. “Otherwise, we will face consequences in every field from tourism to trade and education,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
Erdogan announced new measures in order to achieve this target, including a nationwide full lockdown between April 29-May 17 to 05.00 a.m. New measures will cover the entire holy Muslim month of Ramadan, as well as three days of the Eid.
During his speech, President didn’t forget to respond Biden’s statement where he used the word ‘genocide’ for the remembrance of 1915 Armenian incident on April 24. “The U.S. President Biden used unfounded and unjust expressions contrary to the facts about the painful events that occurred more than a century ago,” Erdogan said. His reaction was not that loud, rather ‘soft’ compared to the past.
The country’s business world also made a joint statement on the issue. “We consider Biden’s statement as a result of political populism, which doesn’t have a scientific and legal foundation,” read in the statement of the business environment including the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) and Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Association (TISK), Turkish representatives of the Turkey-EU Joint Consultative Committee consisting of confederations of trade and public servants trade unions. We will see how bilateral relations will evolve in the upcoming period. For now, let’s take a look at the current developments…
Foreign exchange rates which depreciated over 1%, remains at yesterday’s levels. USD/TRY started the day at 8.26, while EUR/TRY is traded at 9.97. Oil prices, meanwhile, have started to recover compared to yesterday, however, concerns over India, the third largest crude oil exporter in the world, can limit this recovery. Brent crude increased by 0.8% to USD 66.19, while the U.S. crude oil reached USD 62.3. On the other hand, decline in demand on USD has reduced gold prices. Spot gold slightly fell to USD 1,778.
DAILY AGENDA
No crucial data to be priced in the country today.
