Turkey’s privatization authority shifts to Turkish Lira in tenders

ANKARA

The Turkish Privatization Authority (ÖİB) announced on Dec. 6 that privatization tenders will henceforth be held on a Turkish Lira basis, in order to support the lira amid its sharp deterioration in value. 

The ÖİB said all payments would be gradually shifted to the lira for all ongoing tenders. 

“Our tenders will be sealed on a lira basis from now on. We believe that giving a well-deserved value to the lira will make a positive impact on privatization activities and will lead to such contracts resuming at full speed. For the ongoing tenders, we will adopt a gradual shift procedure to the lira in terms of tender value, guarantees, or all other payments,” the ÖİB added. 

The decision came after a series of lira-based decisions were taken by various institutions upon President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call for Turkish citizens to convert their foreign exchange into liras or gold last week. 

Turkey’s main stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, became the first institution to convert all its cash assets into liras, a few hours after Erdoğan’s remarks.