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☆ Turkey's central bank hikes key interest rate to 35%
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Turkish Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan answers questions during a news conference for the Inflation Report 2023-III in Ankara, Turkey on July 27, 2023. Turkey's central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate from 30% to 35%, in an ongoing bid to rein in inflation. The turnaround began in June, when Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who spearheaded the controversial policy stance — appointed former Wall Street banker Hafize Gaye Erkan as new central bank governor. The key interest rate has been hauled up from 8.5% since then, and economists argue it needs to go further. Inflation is forecast by the central bank to reach just over 60% by the end of 2023, while the Turkish lira has plummeted, making imports more expensive.

Persons: Turkish Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan —, —, Hafize Gaye Erkan Organizations: Turkish Central Bank Governor, Reuters, Wall Street Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Turkey's

☆ Turkey's central bank hikes interest rate to 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey's Taksim Square, with the figure of Kemal Ataturk, the first president, and the Turkish flag in the background. Turkey's central bank hiked its key interest rate to 30% on Thursday, a 500-basis point jump from 25%, as Ankara continues to battle double-digit inflation. Traditional economic orthodoxy holds that rates must be raised to cool inflation, but Erdogan — a self-declared "enemy" of interest rates who calls the tool "the mother of all evil" — vocally espoused a strategy of lowering rates instead. After starting on its hiking path, the central bank in July stated its aim to get inflation down to 5% in the medium term — an ambitious forecast, as Turkey's annual inflation jumped to near 59% in August. Ankara now expects annual inflation to reach 65% at the end of 2023, up from a forecast of 24.9% a year ago.

Persons: Turkey's, Kemal Ataturk, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan —, — Organizations: Turkish, greenback Locations: Ankara, Istanbul, Turkey

☆ Turkey's central bank raises interest rate less than expected, to 17.5%
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey's Taksim Square, with the figure of Kemal Ataturk, the first president, and the Turkish flag in the background. Turkey's central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate by 250 basis points to 17.5%, coming in below analyst forecasts of 500 basis points as the country's monetary policymakers embark on a long and painful mission to tackle double-digit inflation. "Monetary tightening will be further strengthened as much as needed in a timely and gradual manner until a significant improvement in the inflation outlook is achieved," the bank said in a statement, following its interest rate decision. In its statement Thursday, the central bank reiterated its aim to get inflation down to 5% in the medium term — which many economists see as unrealistic at this rate. Traditional economic orthodoxy holds that rates must be raised to cool inflation, but Erdogan — a self-declared "enemy" of interest rates who calls the tool "the mother of all evil" — vocally espoused a strategy of lowering rates instead.

Persons: Turkey's, Kemal Ataturk, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan —, — Organizations: Turkish Locations: Turkey

☆ Turkey hikes interest rates as Erdogan reverses policy on fighting inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

London CNN —Turkey’s central bank hiked interest rates to 15% from 8.5% Thursday in a dramatic reversal of its unorthodox policy of cutting the cost of borrowing to tame painfully high inflation. Annual consumer price inflation has come down from a two-decade high of 85.5% in October but was still almost 40% in May. This is the first rate decision by Turkey’s central bank since last month’s reelection of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan had ordered his central bank to cut rates nine times since late 2021, when inflation around the world started to accelerate, whereas most economies have raised rates. In that time, the value of the Turkish lira has crashed almost 170% to stand at a record low of 23.60 against the US dollar on Thursday.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Goldman Sachs, Erdogan, Erdogan —, —, Mehmet Simsek, Turkey’s, Merrill Lynch Organizations: London CNN

Ten years ago, Emine Kilic, was focused on raising her two children at home in Istanbul when she decided to set up her own clothing company to help support her family. Her business, started with an interest-free government-backed loan for female entrepreneurs, now employs 60 people and exports to 15 countries, said Ms. Kilic, who has an elementary-school education. She credited a powerful motivator who inspired her to transform her life — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — calling him a champion for women. “Thanks to my president, I became the boss of my own company,” said Ms. Kilic, 38. To beat back the most serious political threat to his two-decade tenure as Turkey’s dominant politician, Mr. Erdogan counted on the fervent support of an often underappreciated constituency: conservative religious women.

☆ Opinion: Why Erdogan’s win isn’t all it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Opinion Ruth Ben-Ghiat | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In the run-up to the first round of voting, Erdogan’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, tellingly likened the election to the 2016 attempted coup. Off the back of Erdogan’s win, we can expect Turkey to draw even closer to Russia, which supplies more than one-third of its petroleum and oil products. So look for Erdogan to follow whatever geopolitical path benefits his Russian patron, including continued opposition to Sweden joining NATO. Erdogan’s economic policies have contributed to horrific inflation: over 80% in October, a 24-year record, and still at 44% last month. For all his bluster about modernizing Turkey, Erdogan has created an environment of fear, hostility and economic hardship.

☆ The F-35 is becoming the most popular fighter jet among NATO militaries — with one 'baffling' exception
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Romania is the latest NATO member to say it will buy the F-35 stealth fighter jet. To some in the West, Turkey's decision to choose the S-400 over the F-35 just does not compute. As one of the original partners in the US-led F-35 program, Turkey should have been among the first to get the cutting-edge stealth fighter. The F-35/S-400 controversy illustrates Turkey's position as the odd man in NATO since it joined in 1952. Putin and Erdogan inspect a Russian Su-57 fighter jet at the MAKS air show in Russia in August 2019.

☆ As Chances of Finding Earthquake Survivors Dwindle, Turkey and Syria Focus on Recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Benoit Faucon | Stephen Kalin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ADIYAMAN, Turkey—Authorities in Turkey and Syria raced on Saturday to provide shelter for tens of thousands of people left homeless by Monday’s massive earthquakes as a top United Nations official warned that the death toll could double from the current count of more than 24,000. Rescue teams continued to pull survivors and bodies from the rubble of destroyed buildings, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan —whose government is facing increasing anger over the pace of relief efforts—pledged a large-scale effort to rebuild.

☆ As Chances of Finding Earthquake Survivors Dwindle, Turkey, Syria Focus on Recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Benoit Faucon | Stephen Kalin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Earthquake Recovery Takes Center Stage in Turkey, Syria as Chances of Finding Survivors Narrow
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Benoit Faucon | Stephen Kalin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ADIYAMAN, Turkey—Officials in northern Syria and parts of Turkey have shifted their focus to clearing rubble and sheltering the tens of thousands of people left homeless by two earthquakes that shook the region Monday, as the death toll rose to more than 24,000. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan —whose government is facing anger at the slowness of rescue efforts—pledged a large-scale effort to rebuild.

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