Tag: Zafer Caglayan

  • Turkey February Industrial Production Unexpectedly Rises

    Turkey February Industrial Production Unexpectedly Rises

    Turkey’s adjusted industrial production growth rose to 4.4 percent in February, beating expectations and signaling a pickup in economic activity after last year’s slump.

    Industrial production rose 1.5 percent over the previous month and 1.7 percent over the previous year when not adjusted for working days, according to figures published by the official statistics agency in Ankara today. The median estimate of five economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a 2.4 percent workday-adjusted expansion.

    “The industrial production performance in the first two months of this year seems to draw a better picture than the one observed in the final quarter of 2012,” Gokce Celik, an economist at Finansbank AS in Istanbul, said in an e-mailed report after the data was published today. “The recovery in the domestic demand that started in the final quarter of 2012 has started to be transmitted into economic activity as of the beginning of this year.”

    Turkey’s gross domestic product expanded by 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter last year, the slowest pace since 2009, as central bank efforts to cut the current-account deficit depressed domestic demand. The economy grew 2.2 percent in the full year to $786.3 billion, according to data released by the statistics office on April 1.

    Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan blamed the central bank for the slump in an interview with CNBC-e today, saying it was late to cut interest rates and support government growth goals. He said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also supported that view.

    The central bank should cut its benchmark policy rate as the government targets a 4 percent expansion in GDP this year, Caglayan said.

    Yields on benchmark two-year Turkish notes dropped 12 basis points to 5.97 percent at 12:05 p.m. in Istanbul, falling for a fourth day. The lira gained 0.1 percent to 1.7914 against the dollar.

    via Turkey February Industrial Production Unexpectedly Rises – Businessweek.

  • ECONOMICS – ‘S&P apologizes to Turkey as Israeli did’

    ECONOMICS – ‘S&P apologizes to Turkey as Israeli did’

    Standard and Poor’s (S&P), the credit ratings agency that has recently upgraded Turkey’s notch, apologized to Turkey just like Israel did, Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan has said.

    “S&P is trying to save its reputation and it apologized to Turkey as Israeli did. I call it ‘Double S&P’ because it is an institution that applies a double standard,” Çağlayan said at the meeting of Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (Türkonfed) on March 30.

    Çağlayan criticized the agency that gave the same notch to Turkey as the Philippines, Croatia and Romania. He appealed to both S&P and Moody’s to revise Turkey’s notch “to save their reputation.”

    S&P upgraded Turkey’s sovereign debt rating to just one step below investment grade on March 27. The agency lifted Turkey’s sovereign credit rating to BB-plus from BB with a stable outlook, citing a rebalancing economy and progress in a Kurdish peace process and noting that its external financing requirements had declined thanks to strong exports and a drop in domestic demand.

    However, Moody’s has made it clear that Turkey’s ongoing vulnerabilities were holding the country back despite Turkish investors expecting a possible upgrade by the agency.

    Fitch is the only ratings institution among the top three to have kept Turkey in the “investible” category. It upgraded Turkey to an investment grade of BBB in November, citing its moderate and declining levels of public debt.

    Free trade deal

    Çağlayan said Turkey should get involved in the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement between the United States and the European Union. If the parties did not allow Turkey to participate, then the country should set forth its final opinion to the EU, he said.

    Speaking at the same event, Turkey’s EU Minister Egemen Bağış said Turkey would not allow the EU’s bilateral agreements to cause unfair competition for Turkey.

    The U.S. and EU launched moves on Feb. 13 to open negotiations on a new free trade pact that seeks to eliminate or minimize barriers everywhere. The free trade agreements between the EU and third parties enable these other countries’ goods to enter European markets or Turkish markets via Europe with zero duties, but the decision to provide the same privileges to Turkey is up to the discretion of the third party.

    Turkey exported around $5.6 billion worth of goods to the U.S. while importing $14 billion in 2012, according to figures.

    April/01/2013

    via ECONOMICS – ‘S&P apologizes to Turkey as Israeli did’.

  • Turkey is ready to set up an industrial zone in Cameroon

    Turkey is ready to set up an industrial zone in Cameroon

    Turkey-Cameroon Trade and Investment Forum held in Ankara, President Biya said Turkey had the capacity to meet the needs of Cameroon

    kamerun-president-biya

    Turkey’s Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan has said on Wednesday, Turkey was ready to establish a Turkish organized industrial zone in Cameroon.

    Caglayan spoke at the Turkey-Cameroon Trade and Investment Forum and said, 53 years old diplomatic relations between Turkey and Cameroon would continue by developing.

    Turkish minister underlined that they pay high attention to develop relations with Cameroon in politics, diplomatics, economics and trade and said, “The beginning of flights and the opening of our embassy have a big importance. Turkish Airlines (THY) used to fly only to North Africa and now it flies to 34 different destinations. And in Cameroon THY flies to two destinations. This makes clear the importance of links between Turkey and Cameroon. We care about Cameroon because we care about Africa. In Turkey-Africa relations, we do not only look for financial results.”

    Caglayan said, Turkey was playing an important role on the development of Africa continent and stated, “Total investments of Turkish business world is something between 20-25 billion USD. 25 Percent of these are being placed in Africa and this shows the interest of Turkish business community in Africa.”

    Caglayan said, with legal infrastructure, Turkish business community would contribute into the future of Cameroon and noted, “We would like to say that we are ready to set up a Turkish organized industrial zone.”

    Cameroon’s President Paul Biya invited Turkish businessmen to invest in his country.

    “Turkey has the capacity to meet our needs, and we could work together in infrastructure, agriculture and mining areas, said Biya who spoke at the opening of Turkey-Cameroon Trade & Investment Forum.

    Biya said that Cameroon was a gate to Central African market, and called on Turkish businessmen to invest in Cameroon.       Biya expressed pleasure that Turkey set trade volume target between the two countries as 500 million USD.

    via Turkey is ready to set up an industrial zone in Cameroon | Economy | World Bulletin.

  • Turkey signs cooperation protocol with Islamic bank

    Turkey signs cooperation protocol with Islamic bank

    IDB_LogoTurkey on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Anadolu Agency reported.

    The MoU was signed by Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Madani, IDB’s president in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

    The deal seeks to boost trade and investment between Turkey and and the members of the Islamic Development Bank.

    via Turkey signs cooperation protocol with Islamic bank – Trend.Az.

  • Economy minister offers Volkswagen investment in Turkey

    Economy minister offers Volkswagen investment in Turkey

    Caglayan said he would meet with company officials soon 

    EKONOMI BAKANI ZAFER CAGLAYAN

     

    World Bulletin / News Desk

    Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan has said that given the developments in Turkey’s automotive sector, he believed Volkswagen would not miss Turkey.

    Following “Second Turkish-German CEO Forum” also attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Ankara, Caglayan answered the questions on Turkish-German business relations.

    On “Volkswagen investing in Turkey” issue Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Merkel talked about, Caglayan noted that Merkel said she would be happy on such investment by the company. He said he would meet with the company representatives soon.

    “Volkswagen is the most selling company in Turkey, yet has not invested in Turkey, which is hard to understand,” stated Caglayan.

    He said they sent letters to the CEOs of the leading companies of the world and invited them to invest in Turkey. He added they would meet with Volkswagen and offer them to invest in Turkey, saying that given the developments in Turkey’s automotive sector, he believed Volkswagen would not miss Turkey.

    “They try to put us off with impossible excuses on visa exemption and full membership,” he said on EU issues, adding that visa problems were intended to frustrate Turkish businessmen.

  • Exclusive: Turkey-Iran gold trade wiped out by new U.S. sanctions

    Exclusive: Turkey-Iran gold trade wiped out by new U.S. sanctions

    By Asli Kandemir

    ISTANBUL | Sat Feb 16, 2013 4:12am EST

    (Reuters) – Tighter U.S. sanctions are killing off Turkey’s gold-for-gas trade with Iran and have stopped state-owned lender Halkbank from processing other nations’ energy payments to the OPEC oil producer, bankers said on Friday.

    U.S. officials have sought to prevent Turkish gold exports, which indirectly pay Iran for its natural gas, from providing a financial lifeline to Tehran, largely frozen out of the global banking system by Western sanctions over its nuclear program.

    Turkey, Iran’s biggest natural gas customer, has been paying Iran for its imports with Turkish lira, because sanctions prevent it from paying in dollars or euros.

    Iranians then use those lira, held in Halkbank accounts, to buy gold in Turkey, and couriers carry bullion worth millions of dollars in hand luggage to Dubai, where it can be sold for foreign currency or shipped to Iran.

    Halkbank had also been processing a portion of India’s payments for Iranian oil.

    A provision of U.S. sanctions, made law last summer and implemented from February 6, effectively tightens control on sales of precious metals to Iran and prevents Halkbank from processing oil payments by other countries back to Tehran, bankers said.

    “Halkbank can only accept payments for Turkish oil and gas purchases and Iran is only allowed to buy food, medicine and industrial products with that money,” one senior Turkish banker told Reuters.

    “The gas for gold trade is very difficult after the second round of sanctions. Iranians cannot just withdraw the cash and buy whatever they want. They have to prove what they are buying … so gold exports will definitely fall,” he said.

    Trade in Turkish gold bars to Iran via Dubai was already drying up as banks and dealers declined to buy the bullion to avoid sanctions risks associated with the trade.

    Reuters first reported the boom in Turkish gold sales to Iran via Dubai last year.

    Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Cağlayan signaled a decline in the trade last week when he said that, while Turkey would not be swayed by U.S. pressure to halt gold exports to Iran, Tehran’s demand for the metal was expected to fall.

    “You could say that the United States has achieved its aim,” said a western diplomat. “If Turkey is going to continue energy imports from Iran, there is no other way to go than trading sanction-free goods.”

    NEW ROUTES?

    Iran is refining uranium to a fissile concentration that Western experts say is a relatively short technical step from the level that would be suitable for atomic bombs. But Tehran says its enrichment program is solely for civilian energy purposes.

    Turkish ministers had acknowledged the “gold-for-gas” trade but said it was carried out entirely by the private sector and was not subject to U.S. sanctions.

    Turkey, like China, India and Japan, is heavily dependent on imported energy and, while it has cut back on oil from Iran, has made clear it cannot simply stop buying Iranian oil and gas.

    “With so many restrictions, Iran’s cash may accumulate in Halkbank accounts… they may have difficulty getting some of that money out of Turkey,” another senior Turkish banker said.

    That could mean Tehran will look elsewhere for allies willing to try to get round the U.S. sanctions, although it may struggle to continue to receive gold as a payment method.

    “The gold trade may switch to countries that support Iran politically but Russian banks, for example, would be very cautious because they are very much in the global banking system,” the second banker said.

    “China may be another option. But I can say that the gold trade is over for Turkey.”

    Turkey, which is not a major gold producer, was a net gold, jewelry and precious metals importer in 2011 but swung to being a net exporter last year. Analysts said Iranian demand had prompted both the high imports two years ago – which were largely sold on to Iran – and the surge in exports last year.

    Gold exports to Iran rose to $6.5 billion in 2012, more than ten times the level of 2011, while exports to the United Arab Emirates – much of it for onward shipment to Iran or conversion to hard currency – rose to $4.6 billion from $280 million.

    Overall Turkish bullion exports fell to 10.5 tonnes in December from 15.2 tonnes in November.

    (Editing by Nick Tattersall and Richard Mably/Mark Heinrich)

    (This story was corrected in the 13th paragraph to show Iran not accused of making weapons-grade uranium)

    via Exclusive: Turkey-Iran gold trade wiped out by new U.S. sanctions | Reuters.