Fluctuations in Turkish economy, finance sector have ended: Albayrak

ISTANBUL

Recent fluctuations in the Turkish economy and financial sector have come to an end, Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said.

Turkey’s risk premium in international markets posed a “significant drop” for over a month, Albayrak said at an event in Istanbul on Oct. 18.

“The fluctuations in our economy and financial markets have ended… Turkey does not have any problem with securing financial sources. Turkey’s debt stock or household debt stock is one of the lowest in the world,” he said at the Belt & Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance (BRICA) Summit.

CDS [Credit Default Swap] premiums, which are one of the main indicators of risk premium, showed a decline of over 200 base points and improved for more than a month, Albayrak also noted.

He also said the government would continue to support the country’s banking and real sectors.

Saying that the New Economic Program was very ambitious, the minister added: “Both local and global markets have showed very positive reactions to our program.”

On Oct. 17, the Treasury and Finance Ministry said in a statement that “the [bond] offering attracted an order book of more than three times the actual issue size from more than 250 accounts.”

The ministry on Oct. 16 authorized three international institutions — Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Societe Generale — to issue a dollar-denominated bond due 2023, as part of the 2018 external borrowing program.

Speaking about the Belt&Road initiative, Albayrak said it paved the way for improvement of transportation infrastructure step by step.

“The comprehensive infrastructure move that we tried to actualize since November 2002 provides a great advantage to this initiative,” he said.