Barter no magic wand against crisis

As businesspeople attempt to sell products in a saturated global and domestic environment, different forms of trade, such as the barter system, are being probed as a possible way out of the crisis. But economists say it would be too far-fetched to think that barter can pull the economy out of the crisis.

A panel held Wednesday in Istanbul introduced the system to Turkish businesspeople.

The panel was attended by Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan; Varol Ciliv, chief executive of the Turkish Economy Bank, or TEB; Nurettin Özdebir, chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Industry, or ASO; Ekrem Demirtaş, chairman of the İzmir Chamber of Commerce, or IZTO; Erdal Bahçıvan, chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, or ISO; and Mehmet Büyükekşi, president of the Turkish Exporters' Assembly, or TİM.

"The barter system created by BarTürk is one of the ways we have found to fight against the crisis," said Çağlayan, in his opening speech. Reminding that Turkey exported $132 billion worth of goods and services last year, Çağlayan said that bartering, a method in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and services, could lift Turkish trade to a significant level. "In order to use the system in the right way, some legal arrangements have to be made. I will convey this to the government."

"In the near past, Turkey has seen other barter companies, too," said Bahçıvan. "Unfortunately there was always a question of confidence about some of them. But the new system is safe."

Speaking on the relationship between barter and banks, Ciliv said bartering would work parallel to banks. "There are some questions regarding whether the barter system can be a rival to banks, but in fact, it is complementary to the banks," he said.

Professor Arman Kırım, a marketing expert, said there was no way for Turkey to come out of this crisis in a short period of time. In the aftermath of the crisis, "everyone will consume less and save more," Kırım said.

Substitute for an IMF deal?

Economist Ömer Aksu said barter cannot provide a way out of the crisis. "In the past, bartering was used with Russia, whenever there was an export gap. But after a global crisis like this, the United States would never leave this area free. That’s why Turkey does not have a chance to succeed," he said, speculating that bartering is being used as a substitute for a deal with the International Monetary Fund. "This is a new balancing policy by the government [in place of] IMF policies," Aksu told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review over the phone Wednesday.

"Though the barter system is out of fashion, it can still make a difference in the economy, but this will always be a small difference," said Erol Katırcıoğlu, an economy professor. "We cannot entrust our exports to this system. Due to the global crisis, it wouldn’t work as an added value to exports, since nothing will be different in the contraction of exports in key markets," he told the Daily News.

The barter system is always used as a "last remedy," economist Uğur Civelek said. "If there is a problem in the payment system, barter can work." Usually, countries that are sidelined from the global system are bartering, Civelek said. "In Turkey we shouldn’t expect anything from barter in the short term. This system can work if normal payment systems do not operate properly. As there is no such problem in Turkey, we should look at barter as a plan B only."

Daily News correspondent Hatice Utkan contributed to this report.