Business News Turkey August 2024

Business

British company acquires major Turkish ore mine

ACG Acquisition, a London exchange-listed special-purpose acquisition company, has purchased the Gediktepe mine from Lidya Madencilik, the mining branch of Turkish ?al?k Holding, for USD 290 mn. The mine, located in the Bigadi? district of Bal?kesir province, is a polymetallic mining operation which produces gold and silver. In addition to that, the new owners intend to produce copper and zinc from 2026 onwards.

July 18, 2024

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Amadeus opens R&D centre in Istanbul

Madrid-based global travel technology company Amadeus has opened a new R&D Centre in Torun Center, Istanbul. The investment is to contribute to the development of digital technologies and to pave the way for developing and scaling new ideas and initiatives in Turkey in the field of travel technologies. Creating jobs for some 500 software developers, the centre is set to become the company’s third largest R&D centre, after Nice and Bengaluru, by the end of the year.

July 20, 2024

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UAE-Azerbaijani-Turkish venture to develop real estate projects

RMS Capital Investment, formed through the collaboration of Reportage Properties (United Arab Emirates), Sabah Investment Group (Azerbaijan) and MESA Holding (Turkey), has announced a plan to develop real estate projects in Turkey, the UAE and Azerbaijan. The first projects of the partnership are scheduled to be implemented in Dubai, Istanbul and Baku in 2024 and 2025, with an investment of USD 600 mn. The financing shall be provided by the partners, with the management of the projects to be organized from Dubai.

July 24, 2024

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MNT-Halan acquires Tam Finans

Egypt-based finance company MNT-Halan has acquired Tam Finans, a Turkish commercial finance company with a loan portfolio exceeding USD 300 mn, from Actera Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Mounir Nakhla, Founder and CEO of MNT-Halan, said that Turkey with its population of 85 million has a huge economy, leading them to believe that there are great opportunities in this market.

July 27, 2024

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New tax regulations come into force

The Law No. 7524 on Amendments to the Tax Law and Certain Laws has entered into force by being published in the Official Gazette on August 2, 2024. The law includes changes such as the introduction of a minimum domestic corporate income tax as well as a minimum local and global additional corporate income tax, an increase in the corporate income tax applied to profits from build-operate-transfer projects to 30%, an increase in special irregularity penalties, and a limitation of the profit exemption for companies operating in free zones as to export revenues.

Aug. 2, 2024

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Politics

Turkey to search for oil and natural gas in Somalia

Turkey and Somalia have signed an agreement regarding the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, Somalian Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, attended the signing ceremony. The agreement grants Turkey exclusive exploration and production rights in case it finds oil in 3 blocks of 5,000 sqm each offshore Somalia. Turkish research ship Oru? Reis shall conduct several months of seismic study, starting in the last quarter of this year. According to the evaluations, drilling and exploration are targeted to begin.

July 18, 2024

Economy

Moody’s raises Turkey’s rating

The credit rating agency Moody’s has raised Turkey’s credit rating by two notches from B3 to B1 while keeping the country’s outlook as positive. The main reason for the decision was stated as a determined and increasingly well-established return to orthodox monetary policy. The agency expects inflationary pressures to ease significantly in the coming months, into 2025.

July 20, 2024

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Turkish Central Bank keeps interest rate constant

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has decided to maintain its policy rate (the one-week repo auction rate) of currently 50.00%. The bank stated that “the decisiveness regarding tight monetary stance will bring down the underlying trend of monthly inflation through moderation in domestic demand, real appreciation in Turkish lira, and improvement in inflation expectations.”

July 23, 2024

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Both exports and imports decrease in June

In June 2024, the exports and imports of the Turkish economy decreased by 8.3% and 4.4%, respectively, over the same month of the previous year (YOY). With exports amounting to USD 19.1 bn and imports to USD 24.9 bn, the trade deficit increased by 10.8% during the same period, reaching USD 5.9 bn. In June, Germany remained Turkey’s primary export partner (USD 1.6 bn), ahead of the USA (USD 1.3 bn), and the UK (USD 1.1 bn). China continued to be the country with the most imports to Turkey (USD 3.4 bn), followed by the Russian Federation (USD 3.0 bn), and Germany (USD 1.9 bn).

July 31, 2024

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Inflation continues to slow down

In July 2024, consumer prices in Turkey rose by 3.23% over the previous month, with a CPI increase of 61.78% YOY. The biggest monthly price hike was in housing (8.08%), followed by alcoholic beverages and tobacco (5.84%). The only decrease among the main product groups occurred in clothing and footwear (-2.58%). The highest annual price increase was in education (104.50%). The domestic producer price index (D-PPI) went up 1.94% on a monthly basis, and 41.37% YOY.

Aug. 5, 2024

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Industrial production further declining

In June, Turkey’s industrial production index decreased by 4.7% YOY, with the manufacturing industry recording a minus of 6.9%. The highest increases in the manufacturing industry category were reported in the product groups “beverages” (8.2%), “repair and installation of machinery and equipment” (7.9%), and “tobacco products” (3.2%) while the biggest decreases occurred in the product groups “wood and products of wood and cork (except furniture)” (-21.2%), “computers, electronic and optical products” (-18.1%), and “furniture” (-16.5%).

Aug. 9, 2024

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Unemployment rate higher than in the previous month

In June 2024, around 3,305,000 people in Turkey aged 15 and older were officially out of work. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.2%, 0.7 points higher than in the previous month, but 0.2 points down YOY. The labour force participation rate amounted to 54.4% in total, and 36.7% for females.

Aug. 12, 2024

Overview of Monthly Data

Growth Rates

Inflation