Turkey’s Finance Minister Albayrak: What matters is not the level of exchange rate

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Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak attended a live program hosted by Ahmet Hakan on CNN Türk yesterday (August 12).

Addressing a series of issues on Turkey's economy agenda, especially the currently increasing exchange rates of Euro and US Dollar against Turkish Lira, Albayrak has noted that there is an attempt to measure the economy by looking at the exchange rates. The Minister has argued that exchange rates now affect the economy less than previous periods.

He has also indicated that in an attempt to make sure that the exchange rate affects the economy less, Turkey has been going through an economic transformation. The Minister has added that the mobility in the exchange rates was at the same level two years ago.

'Are you indebted in dollars?'

Referring to the fluctuations in the exchange rates, Ahmet Hakan asked Minister Albayrak, "Does this storm affect us? I get panicked when the exchange rate of dollar rises. Should we be concerned?" In response to this question, the Finance Minister has said, "Do you get your wage in dollars? Are you indebted in dollars? Do you have a business with dollars?"

'Capital movements affect Turkey like other countries'

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), sharing further observations and comments, Minister Albayrak has said that the economy is expected to grow between minus 2 percent and plus 1 percent in 2020.

Turkey is affected by global capital movements as much as other countries, he has said, referring toTurkish Lira losing ground. "Turkey is affected much less than before from exchange rate volatilities," he has added, noting that "Turkey is managing fluctuations in a controlled manner."

'What matters is the competitiveness'

The Turkish Lira has lost around 22 percent of its value against the US dollar since the beginning of this year. The dollar/lira exchange rate hit an all-time high of around 7.37 last Thursday (August 6).

"What matters is not the level of the exchange rate, but whether it is competitive," Albayrak has said within this context, adding that "malicious perception operations do not work on Turkey anymore as the country switched to a national independence economy model."

Pointing to the "rapid revival of the economy" in May and June, Albayrak has said that Turkey will be among the least hit countries in the second quarter of this year due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

"We will be one of the fastest normalized and recovered countries in the world," he has argued and added:

"On contrary to international institutions' forecasts which show a contraction of above 5 percent, we expect Turkish economy to grow between minus 2 percent and plus 1 percent this year, above the world average,"

In the first quarter of 2020, Turkey's economy grew by 4.5 percent year-on-year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data. The first COVID-19 case was confirmed late in the first quarter.

As of 11.53 a.m. on August 13, one US Dollars is 7.35 Turkish Lira and one Euro is 8.71 Turkish Lira.  (HA/SD)