Wealth fund ‘subject to thorough and strict audit’

ANKARA

The Turkey Wealth Fund (TWF) is subject to very strict and thorough audit, Vice President Fuat Oktay has said.

Replying to opposition criticism about the debt ratio of the fund during a parliamentary debate on the 2021 budget, Oktay said on Dec. 16 that claims that the TWF is not being audited are wrong.

“The TWF is subject to very strict and thorough audit,” he said. “The independent audit performed by companies whose reputation is recognized by international markets is followed by the audit performed by the State Supervisory Board and the process ends with the audit of the parliament, which is the highest supervisory authority of our country.”

Oktay added that the Court of Accounts continues to audit the institutions that have been transferred to the TWF just as they had been subject to such audition before the transfer.

The vice president said that the debt-asset ratio of the fund is 3 percent, well below the maximum 22 percent level the OECD deems as appropriate.

The TWF, founded in 2016, holds all or part of the shares of several Turkish companies including flag carrier Turkish Airlines, telecommunications giant Türk Telekom, state lenders Ziraat Bankası and Halkbank, oil company Turkish Petroleum and stock market Borsa Istanbul.

With an estimated capital of $33 billion, Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund is ranked the 14th largest among the world’s top 15 wealth funds, according to the U.S.-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.