Turkey to emerge ‘stronger’ from currency crisis: finance minister

Ankara: Turkey’s finance minister Berat Albayrak promised Thursday the country will emerge “stronger” from the currency crisis sparked by a diplomatic spart with the United States, and ruled out an IMF bailout.

“Turkey will emerge stronger from these (currency) fluctuations,” Albayrak was quoted by the state-run TRT television as saying in a conference call with hundreds of foreign investors.

“There is no IMF plan, we have focused on attracting direct investments,” he also said.

Albayrak, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, was appointed last month and faces a tough task in getting the economy in order.

Turkey’s relations with its NATO ally the United States have soured over the detention of an American pastor on terror-related charges.

A slide in the value of the Turkish lira turned into a rout last Friday when US President Donald Trump tweeted that his administration was doubling aluminium and steel tariffs for Turkey.

The currency lost a fifth of its value in two days, piling more pressure on an economy already roiled by high inflation, which is approaching 16 percent.

The lira has clawed back some of its losses as regulators took measures limiting the possibility to speculate against the currency.

Albayrak said there would be no concessions on fiscal discipline and said: “We are targeting lowering inflation into the single digits as soon as possible.”

He added that structural reforms would be a priority.

AFP