What happened? Oguzhan Ozbash, deputy head of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, said that due to the dynamic structure of the local economy, the damage from the outbreak of coronavirus will be insignificant in comparison with other countries. In his opinion, with the slowdown in the spread of the pandemic, the Turkish economy will begin to recover quickly. Daily Sabah.
What are they doing?
- Turkey has stepped up measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently announced a $ 15,4 billion bailout package that slashed taxes for hard-hit sectors and opened up funding for workers. Also recently authorities announced support for small business.
- Credit institutions have also stepped up their activities by providing clients with loan packages that include several flexible payment methods and corporate debt restructuring. This was particularly the case for the heavily impacted tourism and transport sectors.
- The central bank cut its key interest rate to 9,75% from 10,75% in March 2020 and took steps to support volatile financial markets.
- The Central Bank revised the maximum interest rate that could be charged every month on credit cards to 1,25% for Turkish lira and 1% for foreign exchange transactions. The interest rate on late payments will be a maximum of 1,55% for fees in lira and 1,30% for transactions in foreign currency. The changes will take effect on April 1, 2020.
Situation. Turkey's economy grew 6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2019 and nearly 1% in 2019 overall, beating expectations, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). The country's GDP grew by 14,9% year-on-year in 2019 and exceeded $ 656 billion.
Perspectives. Bankers believe the coronavirus outbreak has begun to hit trade, tourism and domestic demand, and are closely monitoring its impact on financial markets and jobs. Policymakers expect the recent fall in energy prices to soften the currency.
