NEWS FLASH

UPCOMING WEBINAR - CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA: ECONOMIC UPSWINGS AND POL...

Growth: Resilient, But Still Unbalanced
TURKEY · Report · 10 Dec 2013

Turkish GDP expanded by 4.4% in Q3, y/y, as in the previous quarter, which was better than the consensus as well as our even softer forecast of some 3.5%. The working day and seasonally-adjusted growth was 0.9%, q/q; the latter is now running at a 4-quarter rolling 1.1%, or an annualized rate of ...

Strong Headline, Weak Composition
TURKEY · In Brief · 10 Dec 2013

Turkish GDP growth was 4.4% in Q3, y/y, which was higher than forecasts (notably our softer forecast), but composition, though improved over a quarter ago, still leaves a lot to be desired. Growth appears to be driven by private consumption and stock build up, with net exports shaving off some 2....

Ergenekon convict released, case unraveling
TURKEY · In Brief · 09 Dec 2013

Ergenekon convict, journalist and CHP Izmir deputy Mr. Mustafa Balbay was released from an Ankara correctional facility today, as a lower court agreed with the Constitutional Court that his right to a free and fair trial had been violated. In the last Weekly Tracker I had bet against his release,...

Weekly Tracker: December 8-14
TURKEY · Report · 08 Dec 2013

Executive Summary Last Monday AKP extended an olive branch to the Gulen Church by delaying the closure of private tutoring schools for two years. This gesture may reduce the “headline” risk, but mutual sniping and harping continues, suggesting a permanent rift. There are very few election polls, ...

Mean Reversion Reigns
TURKEY · Report · 03 Dec 2013

After a few bad prints of late, CPI inflation surprised favorably today, which is not that unusual historically, given the mean reverting nature of the gap between actual and forecasted inflation (Graph 1).The surprise, in turn, as it is also often the case, was driven by food prices to a large e...

Much Confusion About The Energy Deal With Iraqi Kurds
TURKEY · In Brief · 02 Dec 2013

Baghdad must have received solid intelligence that Ankara and Erbil did ink a broad oil and gas cooperation agreement, because it closed the airspace over Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkish flights. Energy Minister Taner Yilmaz was dispatched to Bagdad first to patch things up with his counterpart Mr. Sa...

A Long, Cold Winter?
TURKEY · Report · 01 Dec 2013

According to recent polls, AKP is firmly ahead in the March local election races. We bet it will keep Istanbul and Ankara, as well as most of the large cities. Yet, for PM Erdogan’s presidential campaign, the party needs to surpass 50%, which is likely to be missed.The unexpected declaration of w...

Weekly Tracker: November 24-30
TURKEY · Report · 24 Nov 2013

Executive SummaryErdogan launched a crusade on its erstwhile ally the Gulen Church, which could morph into the most important schism in Turkish politics of the last decade. Why is he doing that?Barzani’s visit to Diyarbakir generated new energy deals with Iraqi Kurdistan, but no progress on the P...

Some Thoughts on Today's CBT Meeting
TURKEY · In Brief · 20 Nov 2013

I have attended the CBT’s regular monthly meeting with economists today.  The key message is that the Bank is trying to simplify and normalize monetary policy.  First, they seem to have realised that, as far as inflation dynamics go, they have run out of excuses, with core and service inflation b...

A Very Small Step in the Right Direction
TURKEY · Report · 19 Nov 2013

Today, the CBT/MPC kept all policy rates (weekly repo and O/N corridor) unchanged as expected, but said the following, which was the critical sentence of the statement: "In order to contain the impact of these developments on the pricing behavior, the Committee decided to strengthen the cautious ...

A Very Small Step in the Right Direction
TURKEY · In Brief · 19 Nov 2013

Today, the CBT/MPC kept all policy rates (weekly repo and O/N corridor) unchanged as expected, but said the following: "In order to contain the impact of these developments on the pricing behavior, the Committee decided to strengthen the cautious stance and reduce the volatility of short term mon...

Weekly Tracker: November 17-23
TURKEY · Report · 17 Nov 2013

Executive Summary Rojava Kurds declared “autonomy”, an act that will change the progress of the Syrian war and Turkey’s own Peace Process. As the line of first defense, PM Erdogan invited Iraqi Kurdish leader Mr. Barzani to Diyarbakir to sponsor his party and the Peace Process. There are rumors t...

Weekly Tracker: November 10-16
TURKEY · Report · 10 Nov 2013

Executive Summary Erdogan’s moral crusade has exhausted all excuses. He is gunning to impose his moral standards on the rest of the nation. The campaign against co-habitation has some real costs and may expose the rifts in AKP. AKP is secure in the polls for the time being, but carrying out sanct...

PM Erdogan Moves to Ban Co-habitation
TURKEY · In Brief · 06 Nov 2013

We had predicted that the campaign for the March local elections will witness not only moderately higher budgetary spending, but ”social pork barreling”, namely ultra-conservative measures to appease AKP’s constituency. We were dead right. PM Erdogan told reporters that his “conservative democrat...

Another Poor Inflation Print
TURKEY · Report · 04 Nov 2013

At 1.8%, October CPI-inflation came in markedly higher than consensus (1.3%) as well as our more bearish forecast (1.5%), but thanks to last year’s high base, the 12-month rate nevertheless declined to 7.7%, from 7.9% a month earlier. Yet, both PPI and core inflation (I-index) rose, the latter mu...