Finance minister: Turkish lira finding its true balance with new deposit system

Photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Turkish lira is moving towards a level where it will find its true balance, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said Tuesday.

"We have a strong economic model. The basis of our model is high growth and a low current account deficit," he said in a live interview with TRT Haber, a state-run news channel.

"Turkey will seize this historic opportunity. We will solve the current account deficit problem through achieving macroeconomic stability and increasing production and exports," he said.

CLICK - Details of Turkey's new foreign exchange-indexed deposit account system

On the high fluctuations in exchange rates seen in recent weeks, Nebati said, "Turkey's macroeconomic indicators have no way of pushing the value of the US dollar against the Turkish lira that high. The Turkish lira is moving towards a level where it will find its true balance."

Nebati's comments came hours after the Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced a new measure in which Turkey will compensate lira depositors for foreign currency fluctuations while encouraging citizens to move towards Turkish lira-based assets.

Under the facility, if the yield remains below the exchange rate difference between the account opening and its maturity dates despite the earned interest, the Treasury will compensate the depositor.

After the announcement of the system, the exchange rate of the US dollar decreased from above 18 to below 13 against the lira.

New appointments

Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed Murat Zaman, the ministry's former director general of financial markets and foreign exchange, as the new deputy finance minister.

The president dismissed Necmi Keskinsoy, the head of the ministry's Tax Supervision Committee. (TP/VK)