The target, laid out in a borrowing plan announced by the Treasury in Ankara in an e-mailed statement Monday, compares with the $4 billion in international borrowing Turkey carried out in 2008, already less than the $5.5 billion originally planned for the year.

The global crisis has “increased the cost and shortened the term of public borrowing,” the Treasury statement said. Turkey is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund on a lending accord to defend its economy against the turmoil and has cut its 2009 spending plans by about YTL 3 billion.

Source: Hurriyet

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Old apartments, villas, waterside mansions, new apartments in new living compounds are all available, TURYAP’s Tarabya representative Nedim Aktas said. Mansions right near the Bosphorus are invaluable. Prices of villas further inland range between $3 million and $4 million.

Mansions are priced from $5 million to $10 million. Duplex apartments in luxurious building compounds have a price tag around $1.5 million. The most important factor influencing prices is the Bosphorus view.

If an apartment or villa has a view of the Bosphorus, even a corner view or a side view pulls the price of the property up, according to Aktas. “In a building where top floors have a Bosphorus view are rented out one-third more than on bottom floors where there is no view,” Aktas said.

Source: Hurriyet

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The Housing Development Administration of Turkey, or TOKI, sold 24,317 houses in 2008 and has a target to build its 400,000th house in 2009.

A statement released by the administration on its 2008 activities, reveals that construction of 286,489 houses continues on 926 construction sites in 384 districts in 81 provinces. The number of houses built totals 334,444, of which 24,317 were sold in 2008 making the total number of houses sold by TOKI amount to 274,817. TOKI has sold 82 percent of all houses it has built.

In the statement, an overview of the projects that had been accomplished between 1983 and 2003 was given that said 42,000 houses were built during that period. “We have achieved the work of 19 years in a single year,” TOKI said. Construction of 47,955 houses was launched in 2008, according to the statement. The number of schools built by TOKI increased from 355 to 442 from 2007 to 2008, sports complexes from 61 to 436, trade centers from 282 to 324, mosques from 227 to 263, hospitals from 15 to 36 and health centers from 66 to 74.

In the statement, TOKI said the number houses to be built in 2009 will surpass 400,000, on track to hit the government’s target of 500,000 houses. In 2009, TOK? will especially focus on the construction of homes for low-income groups, the statement said. “In 2009, TOKI aims to build 45-square-meter houses with no down payment and YTL 100 monthly payments with a 20-year payment term.”

New construction lots
TOKI will also concentrate on new construction lots in 2009, according to the statement. Prevention of excessive lot prices, of new shanty houses, improvement and liquidation of existing slums, meeting housing needs in urban areas and creating new construction lots for other firms are the aims of the housing administration.

As part of the plan, new lots will be allocated in the Kayabas? neighborhood in Kücükcekmece in Istanbul. In Ankara, new lots will be allocated in Mahmatli in Golbasi, Asag? Cavundur in Cubuk, Yapracik; Asagi and Yukar? Yurtcu neighborhoods in Yenimahalle, Etimesgut; Hacitugrul and Gedikli villages in Polatli.

Source: Hurriyet

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Turkey’s export figures decreased by 17.5 percent to $9.3 billion in the same period, while imports decreased by 27.5 percent to $12 billion compared to the same month of 2007, TURKSTAT said.

Source: Hurriyet

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Speaking at a gathering in the northwestern province of Bursa, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ismet Yilmaz, said that Turkey’s tourism income reached $21 billion this year.

Briefing participants on the tourism activities in Turkey and all over the world, Yilmaz said that the growth rate of tourism was 2 percent in the world and 13 percent in Turkey in 2008.

Yilmaz said Turkey was one of the top 10 countries in the world both in terms of tourism income and number of visitors.

“Turkey’s tourism income is almost equal to the tourism income of the whole African continent. The Mediterranean province of Antalya welcomed its 9th million tourist last month. The number of tourists visiting Antalya is equal to those visiting Egypt which is famous for its pyramids,” Yilmaz said.

Source: Hurriyet

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Turkey hopes to complete the talks with the IMF during January and secure a loan of some $25 billion. Turkey has to repay around $50 billion of foreign debt within a year.

Central Bank Gov. Durmus Yilmaz on Saturday said Turkey’s banking sector was sound thanks to an overhaul of the banking system following a deep financial crisis in 2001. But authorities were pondering how to address a sharp slowdown in the economy amid layoffs and production halts particularly in the country’s leading automotive and textile industries.

“Today, the debate is whether Turkey needs to use its resources to help producers,” Yilmaz said. The slowdown may push the central bank to further cut interest rates. The overnight lending interest rate between banks now stands at 17.5 percent

However, the Parliament on Saturday did not revise some key official projections for 2009, including a target of a 27 percent rise in exports and an ambitious 4 percent growth in gross domestic product.

Source: Forbes

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In a statement assessing 2008 and looking forward to next year, the Turkish conglomerate’s chairwoman said she expected very low economic growth in 2009.

Source: Hurriyet

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Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Tuzmen said the success of the Turkish contractors showed that Turkey was currently one of the top three countries in the construction sector at international level. “This situation puts Turkey in the third place behind China and USA,” Tüzmen said.

Speaking at the ceremony, chairperson of Turkish Contractors’ Association, Erdal Eren, said that the annual value of projects undertaken by Turkish contractors abroad reached 23.6 billion USD in 2008. Eren also said that Turkish contractors’ annual business volume in foreign countries increased nearly 15 times during the last 6 years.

During the ceremony, Premier Recep Tayyip Erdo?an presented awards to Turkish companies ENKA, GAMA, RENAISSANCE, TEKZEN, YUKSEL, KAYI, BAYTUR, TAV, NUROL, MAK-YOL, STFA, HAZINEDAROGLU, SUMMA, GAP, YENIGUN, CENGIZ, RASEN, DOGUS, ALARKO, MESA, YASAR OZKAN, TML and USTAY.

Source: Today’s Zaman

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Speaking at a meeting of the Turkish Economic Journalists’ Association, Tüzmen said, “the global crisis caused an inestimable shrinkage in world markets. Accordingly, exports have dropped in the recent months. But we have succeeded in surpassing our targets in exports in 2008. Our target was 125 billion USD. As of December 22, our exports reached 125.7 billion USD.”

“Exports by automotive sector reached 24.5 billion USD, exports by iron-steel sector reached 19.1 billion USD and exports by textiles sector reached 15.4 billion USD. From January 1 to December 22, exports by Turkey increased by 21.4 percent,” he said.

“This shrinkage in markets is not a problem of only Turkey, but of all countries. Exports by the People’s Republic of China, Germany, India and Japan fell considerably. If the global crisis continue, we will have a tough year in 2009. Analysts expect a 2.1 percent narrowing in world markets in 2009. We are taking some measures to lessen impacts of the crisis. We rely on our commercial relations with African, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Asian countries since those countries were less affected by the crisis,” Tüzmen added.

Source: Today’s Zaman

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In early December, Moody’s, a global credit rating agency, predicted that the Turkish economy would see recession within one to two years if it fails to sign a deal with the IMF. Soussa told the Anatolia news agency in London yesterday that the possibility of a recession did not depend on a deal with the IMF. “Turkey is now more likely to sign a deal with the International Monetary Fund than in previous weeks,” he said.

Soussa said a deal with the IMF will be for Turkey’s benefit in the long run. “The global markets currently suffer from serious fluctuation. The markets have grown vulnerable to external threats. In addition to this, there are going to be local elections in Turkey soon, and expenditures will jump. All of these developments support Turkey signing a deal with the IMF,” he said, adding that the move would maintain confidence among foreign investors. “The more the investors are encouraged, the easier Turkey can reach foreign capital.” In the meantime, an IMF delegation is expected to arrive in Turkey in the first week of January to hold talks with the government on a possible stand-by deal.

S&P had revised its outlook on Turkey from stable to negative in November, citing difficult external financing conditions. The institution had predicted in November that Turkey’s current account deficit would narrow in 2009 but that its gross external financing needs will increase significantly. “The extent of the narrowing of the current account deficit and the slowing of economic growth will depend on the amount of debt the private sector is able to roll over externally,” the agency noted, underlining that it expected a shift in the balance of risks in Turkey in 2009 as external financing conditions remain difficult.

S&P also said it expected that the high cost of external financing will cause the Turkish private sector to replace a portion of its external funding locally, putting pressure on the exchange rate and hampering growth.

Source: Today’s Zaman

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