Global worries boost dollar in Turkey
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ANKARA - Worries over the state of the global economy were amplified yesterday as U.S. auto giant General Motors warned about its viability. Turkish stocks took a tailspin on the news and the U.S. dollar skyrocketed over 1.75 Turkish Liras.
Istanbul Stock Exchange’s benchmark IMKB-100 index fell 904 points, or 3.78 percent, down to 23,035 points. The index has lost nearly 15 percent since the start of the year. The U.S. dollar rose above 1.75 liras and was trading at 1.7565 liras at 5:17 p.m., representing a daily gain of 2.13 percent. The greenback has gained 14.2 percent against the lira since the start of the year.
"The GM situation has never been a mystery for the markets, at least since December," Uğur Gürses, an economist and columnist for daily Radikal, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. "It is impossible to decouple Turkey from the world. This explains the fall in the bourse and rise of the dollar. "GM shows surviving the crisis will not be as easy as thought," Gürses said. "But when the world starts to recover, things will still be hard for Turkey. There is still no declared economic program."
Speaking to daily Hürriyet, Murat Salar, vice president of Alternatif Investment, said if the greenback holds above 1.75 liras, it might rise to 1.85.