(Bloomberg) — Turkey’s former finance minister broke months of silence that followed his abrupt resignation by threatening legal action against critics who say his policies cost the nation more than $100 billion dollars in reserves.
“There is no possibility of any foreign currency or lira resources of the central bank disappearing, evaporating or being transferred to a different location,” a lawyer for Berat Albayrak, who is also President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, said in a statement published Saturday. Albayrak’s attorney said he’d sue detractors for 500,000 liras ($71,000) for defamation and donate the compensation to the families of fallen soldiers.
After Albayrak took over as economy czar in July 2018, Turkey began aggressively spending foreign currency reserves to defend the lira during times of volatility. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists estimated the sales exceeded $100 billion last year alone.
The pace at which foreign exchange holdings were eroded left Turkey’s economy more vulnerable to external shocks but also failed to stabilize the lira, which weakened to a record low just before Albayrak’s departure. The Turkish currency slid more than 40% overall during his tenure, making it the worst performer among major world currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
“Disappearance”
In recent months, Turkish opposition parties, led by the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, have ramped up criticism both of Albayrak’s policies and his “disappearance” since his unexpected resignation in November.
“The central bank’s $128 billion is gone but the ‘son-in-law’ responsible is at large,” the CHP tweeted over the weekend.
Albayrak’s departure three months ago was part of a broader overhaul of Turkey’s top economic policy team. Officials familiar with the matter told Bloomberg at the time the changes were driven by Erdogan’s own frustration over how the country’s reserves had been used. The reserve policy was executed by the central bank with strong backing from Albayrak’s ministry, the people said, as it sought in vain to stabilize markets without raising interest rates — in line with Erdogan’s disdain for high borrowing costs.
Albayrak has drawn support from his successor, Lutfi Elvan, who said the foreign exchange transactions were carried out “in line with the goal of financial stability” amid “extraordinary fluctuations in global markets.”
Turkey has delivered substantial interest-rate hikes since the appointment of Naci Agbal as central bank governor and his ally, Elvan. The moves have spurred a more than 20% rally in the lira as expectations grow that Turkey is returning to more orthodox monetary policy.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
