Investors Left to Guess about Turkey’s Next Economic Move (Turkey)
Turkey ruled out capital controls on Thursday in its efforts to defend the lira’s value and tame inflation, leaving investors guessing about a new economic package by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan might contain. Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said there was no question of restrictions on capital movements after an emergency interest rate hike late on Tuesday failed to lift the lira currency substantially from record lows. Erdogan, facing a corruption investigation months ahead of elections, was quoted late Wednesday as saying “a Plan B or a Plan C” for the economy may be announced in the coming days or weeks. He has voiced a need to sustain growth as Turks prepare to vote and he has railed against what he describes as an “interest rate lobby” of speculators seeking to hike rates and stifle Turkey’s economic progress.
