Turkish markets move up
ANKARA – Turkish stocks and the lira firmed yesterday after government officials redoubled efforts to convince sagging markets they were acting to erase political doubts that investors fear could hit the country’s economic recovery. The lira closed the day at best bids of 1,597,000 to the dollar from Thursday’s 1,622,000, while stocks on the main index ended up 3.21 percent at 9,351.16 points. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit’s two-month illness has kept him away from normal duties for two months, raising concerns of a political vacuum as Turkey works to implement a $16 billion International Monetary Fund pact. Traders on the currency, stock and debt markets welcomed a report on news channel CNN Turk that Economy Minister Kemal Dervis would take a more active role in politics. «I’ve met with the president and other authorities. I’m going to take on a more active political role and search for a political solution,» Dervis was quoted as saying. «The markets perceived Dervis’s remarks [as indicating that] a solution on the political situation will be reached,» said one banker who asked not to be named. Key debt yields were slightly lower at 74.26 percent from Thursday’s 74.74 percent. Dervis, a former World Banker drafted in to lead Turkey’s economic reforms after a severe financial crisis last year, has been widely tipped to join a political party before general elections set for April 2004. The IMF’s Turkey representative, Odd Per Brekk, said in a Thursday interview with Reuters, «It is important to provide reassurance about economic, financial and political stability.» Dervis told reporters yesterday that he and bank chiefs had agreed that a strong balance of payments and export and tourism revenues meant Turkey did not have any foreign exchange problems. «It was stressed at (yesterday’s meeting) that the structure of Turkey’s economy is now a strong one,» Dervis said after the meeting with leading Turkish bankers. Kosovo became a de facto UN protectorate in June 1999 after 11 weeks of NATO bombing drove out Serb forces. The province remains legally part of Yugoslavia, but the Albanian majority wants independence.
