Moody's and Fitch’s analyses superficial: Turkish finance minister

ANKARA

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said recent warnings of Moody’s and Fitch are based on their superficial analyses, despite being partially right. AA Photo

Despite acknowledging Moody's and Fitch’s warnings as being “partially correct,” Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek criticized the international credit rating agencies for being “superficial” in their analyses.

The remarks came after Fitch defined Turkish corporates as the most exposed among EMEA emerging markets to a scenario of slowing growth, rising interest rates and a persistently weak local currency, while Moody’s warned of Turkey being externally vulnerable due to political turbulence and market volatility.

Speaking at a broadcasted interview with CNNTürk yesterday, Şimşek reiterated that the economy was not as fragile as claimed, particularly with the current account deficit, which was noted as one of theweak spots, would shrink considerably this year, he claimed.  

Şimşek explained that 80 percent of Turkish firms with foreign exchange debts also had forex revenue
with the private sector external debt position extending to mid to long term.