S&P sees Turkeys current account deficit stable but policy risks high Rating agency Standard & Poors said on Friday it expected Turkeys current account deficit, its main economic weakness, to remain close to 5.3 percent of output until 2017, with falling oil prices helping the economy to rebalance. The agency, which affirmed its unsolicited BB+ rating, one notch below investment grade, said it saw elevated policy risks ahead of next Junes general election and due to the fighting in Iraq and Syria on Turkeys southern borders. It also said a centralisation of decision-making and the erosion of checks and balances around key institutions were risks to business confidence and economic stability, despite the governments planned structural reforms. With real GDP growth expected to hover around 3 percent in the medium term, unemployment could continue rising, further exacerbating the present level of domestic polarization, the agency said in a statement. The spillover of sectarian and ethnic tensions from conflicts in Syria and Iraq could render policymaking even more unpredictable. President Tayyip Erdogans victory in an August election after more than a decade as prime minister has raised concern among his critics and some investors that too much power has been concentrated in the hands of one man, potentially undermining the quality of policy-making. Standard & Poors maintained its negative outlook on Turkey, which it said reflected the downside risks of the countrys substantial dependency on external financing next year.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 05:27:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015