Erdogan's Zioconned Turkish lira on the slide....LOL
By Robert M Cutler
MONTREAL - The Turkish lira has accelerated its decline against the US dollar, recovering so far only marginally this week from Monday's 1.5% drop, to the level of 1.85 lira to the dollar. This level is also down 4% in the last month and 16% this year, the second-worst performance of all emerging market currencies.
While this depreciation has helped to decrease Turkey's trade deficit, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has published a policy document indicating that it is now concerned with minimizing the impact on inflation. The CBRT decided a month ago to make its rates more flexible, setting then on a daily basis between within an interval running from 5.75% to 12%.
However, it risks finding itself in a difficult situation between the unexpectedly high inflation rate and the weakening domestic and international environment.
Inflation in October over September was the highest month-on-month rate in nine years, at 3.3%, while year-on-year increased to 7.7%. Year-on-year inflation will probably approach 10% in the first few months of 2012. Last month, the CBRT upgraded its year-end inflation forecast to 8.3% from 6.9%, well above the bank's annual inflation target of 5.5%. Consensus international estimates for Turkish inflation for 2012 hover in the range between 7.5% and 8%.
Statements by Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek suggest less of an anti-inflation focus and more of an accent on maintaining conditions for healthy economic growth. The success of that policy so far led Standard & Poor's in September to raise Turkey's debt rating by two notches, from "BB" to "BBB-" (the lowest investment-grade rating). Turkey's economy grew at an 8.9% rate in 2010 and 11% for the first four months of 2011, although this has slowed to such a degree that the projected rate for the whole of calendar year 2011 is 7.2%, taking also into account the likelihood of a global slowdown.
Industrial production in September rose 12% over September 2010, easily outpacing market expectations of 6.9%, while the Purchasing Managers Index vaulted to 53.3, a seven-month high, from below the neutral 50 level in August. Turkey is now the world's 16th-largest economy.
The Turkish stock market has not responded to the apparently rosy scenario painted by macroeconomic indicators. The Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) 100 Index closed on Tuesday at 51,986, down 14.6% in the last two months and 23.1% from the beginning of the year. Since the year's high in May, the index has traced out a marked series of declining tops with perhaps the last potential post-crisis long-term support just under the 50,000 level. Potential pre-crisis support levels could kick in, in the mid 46,400s or, more solidly, in an interval around 43,000.
So why have the Istanbul equities markets failed to respond to Turkey's until-recent stellar economic performance? Well, they did respond at the time. However, markets respond not to past performance but to changes in expectations of future performance. The recent economic growth has brought about a large current account deficit, which widened to a record US$77.5 billion for the 12 months through September, equivalent to about 10% of the country's annual economic output.
Consequently, unless the appetite for risk strengthens going forward, which seems unlikely, a slowdown is probably in the cards. Also the Turkish economy depends very much on what is happening to European trade partners, which account for roughly half of the country's trade turnover. Risk appetite in Turkey will decline if the European Union cannot properly handle the euro-zone crisis and the euro consequently weakens.
Moreover, expectations of global growth have deteriorated and Turkey is a "high-beta" country in relation to global growth: meaning that when global growth is good, Turkey significantly outperforms the average; but when global growth is dismal, Turkey significantly under-performs the average.
The Turkish finance ministry is projecting 4% growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2012, while the consensus among international economists is closer to between 2% and 3%. There is, however, more of a downside than an upside risk to the official estimate because of prospective circumstances in the euro-zone, and moreover in the event that global commodity prices stay high.
Those who believe that Turkey can manage a soft landing argue that the lira depreciation has already provided a modicum of adjustment, and also that monetary and financial policies have been tightened by the central authority so as to moderate domestic demand, avoiding the danger of bubbles....
MONTREAL - The Turkish lira has accelerated its decline against the US dollar, recovering so far only marginally this week from Monday's 1.5% drop, to the level of 1.85 lira to the dollar. This level is also down 4% in the last month and 16% this year, the second-worst performance of all emerging market currencies.
While this depreciation has helped to decrease Turkey's trade deficit, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has published a policy document indicating that it is now concerned with minimizing the impact on inflation. The CBRT decided a month ago to make its rates more flexible, setting then on a daily basis between within an interval running from 5.75% to 12%.
However, it risks finding itself in a difficult situation between the unexpectedly high inflation rate and the weakening domestic and international environment.
Inflation in October over September was the highest month-on-month rate in nine years, at 3.3%, while year-on-year increased to 7.7%. Year-on-year inflation will probably approach 10% in the first few months of 2012. Last month, the CBRT upgraded its year-end inflation forecast to 8.3% from 6.9%, well above the bank's annual inflation target of 5.5%. Consensus international estimates for Turkish inflation for 2012 hover in the range between 7.5% and 8%.
Statements by Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek suggest less of an anti-inflation focus and more of an accent on maintaining conditions for healthy economic growth. The success of that policy so far led Standard & Poor's in September to raise Turkey's debt rating by two notches, from "BB" to "BBB-" (the lowest investment-grade rating). Turkey's economy grew at an 8.9% rate in 2010 and 11% for the first four months of 2011, although this has slowed to such a degree that the projected rate for the whole of calendar year 2011 is 7.2%, taking also into account the likelihood of a global slowdown.
Industrial production in September rose 12% over September 2010, easily outpacing market expectations of 6.9%, while the Purchasing Managers Index vaulted to 53.3, a seven-month high, from below the neutral 50 level in August. Turkey is now the world's 16th-largest economy.
The Turkish stock market has not responded to the apparently rosy scenario painted by macroeconomic indicators. The Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) 100 Index closed on Tuesday at 51,986, down 14.6% in the last two months and 23.1% from the beginning of the year. Since the year's high in May, the index has traced out a marked series of declining tops with perhaps the last potential post-crisis long-term support just under the 50,000 level. Potential pre-crisis support levels could kick in, in the mid 46,400s or, more solidly, in an interval around 43,000.
So why have the Istanbul equities markets failed to respond to Turkey's until-recent stellar economic performance? Well, they did respond at the time. However, markets respond not to past performance but to changes in expectations of future performance. The recent economic growth has brought about a large current account deficit, which widened to a record US$77.5 billion for the 12 months through September, equivalent to about 10% of the country's annual economic output.
Consequently, unless the appetite for risk strengthens going forward, which seems unlikely, a slowdown is probably in the cards. Also the Turkish economy depends very much on what is happening to European trade partners, which account for roughly half of the country's trade turnover. Risk appetite in Turkey will decline if the European Union cannot properly handle the euro-zone crisis and the euro consequently weakens.
Moreover, expectations of global growth have deteriorated and Turkey is a "high-beta" country in relation to global growth: meaning that when global growth is good, Turkey significantly outperforms the average; but when global growth is dismal, Turkey significantly under-performs the average.
The Turkish finance ministry is projecting 4% growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2012, while the consensus among international economists is closer to between 2% and 3%. There is, however, more of a downside than an upside risk to the official estimate because of prospective circumstances in the euro-zone, and moreover in the event that global commodity prices stay high.
Those who believe that Turkey can manage a soft landing argue that the lira depreciation has already provided a modicum of adjustment, and also that monetary and financial policies have been tightened by the central authority so as to moderate domestic demand, avoiding the danger of bubbles....
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