What credit ratings agencies said about Turkey in 2014?
by Daily Sabah
Jan 02, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah
Jan 02, 2015 12:00 am
On January 7, the International Credit Rating Agency Fitch Rating stated that recent developments will not have a negative effect on Turkey's macroeconomic outlook and credit rating which is "BBB-."
On February 7, the International Credit Rating Agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced that they had downgraded Turkey's outlook to negative due to the reduction of reserves, which involves net external financing needs, and confirmed the credit rating as "BB+."
On February 21, Japan's credit rating agency R&I (Rating and Information) changed Turkey's outlook from positive to steady and confirmed "BB+" credit rating.
On March 18, Moody's took Akbank, Bank Asya, Şekerbank, Ziraat Bank, TEB, Garanti Bank, HalkBank, İş Bank, VakıfBank and YapıKredi under review for a possible downgrade.
On April 4, Fitch Ratings confirmed Turkey's credit rating as "BBB-" and outlook as "steady."
On April 11, Moody's downgraded Turkey's outlook to negative and confirmed the rating as "Baa3."
On August11, S&P announced that the presidential elections will not have a direct effect on Turkey's credit rating which is "BB+."
On May16, Moody's confirmed Turkey's credit rating at "Baa3," with a negative outlook and it graded Turkey as "investable."
On August 8, Moody's did not make an evaluation of Turkey's credit rating and outlook in August, although it had been penciled in its calendar. The trustworthiness of international rating agencies came into question. Credit rating agencies have been harshly criticized by Turkish ministers and officials due to their inaccurate forecasts and evaluations regarding Turkey's economy. It has been claimed that agencies take political issues into consideration instead of economic indicators while ranking the Turkish economy.
On August13, Director and senior economist of S&P responsible for Turkey' macroeconomic outlook, Tatiana Lysenko, announced that they had upgraded Turkey's growth forecasts from 2.4 percent to 2.9 percent in 2014, and from 2.7 percent to 3 percent in 2015.
On August 15, Moody's released a statement saying the result of the elections would not solve obstacles like slower growth, high inflation, external vulnerabilities, independence issues of important institutions like the central bank and corporate credit challenges.
On September 3, Fitch Ratings announced that the reason behind the rise in Turkey's external debts is mostly due to bank debts, especially fast increases in short-term external liabilities, which will make them more fragile to extreme stress, including the immediate and long-term market position. Fitch also stated that weak corporate management structures of private companies put pressure on ratings.
On September 11, Fitch Ratings stated that the Turkish economy was getting harder to balance.
On October 1, Fitch Ratings stated in its report on the global economy, that global growth will gain speed in 2015 and 2016, but there are downward risks too.
On October 3, Fitch Ratings confirmed Turkey's "BBB-" investable credit rating and "steady" outlook.
On October 5, Moody's held the eighth Annual Turkey Credit Risk Conference in Istanbul.
On November 10, Moody's stated that they do not expect significant global growth in 2015.
On November 19, S&P stated that the emerging markets of Turkey, Brazil and South Africa were slowly gaining stability.
On November 25, Fitch Ratings stressed that Turkey is a strategic market, which was confirmed with Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) stock purchase of Garanti Bank. With the purchase, BBVA's share in Garanti Bank became 39.9 percent.
On December 5, while Moody's was expected to announce Turkey's credit rating on Dec. 5, it delivered a short statement explaining for the second time that it could not make an evaluation of Turkey's credit rating and outlook.
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