These NATO allies are at it again…
Bloomberg reports that Turkish banks will hold an extraordinary meeting on Saturday with the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, known as BDDK in Turkish, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.
The regulator requested that banks study the impact of interest and exchange-rate shocks today, and findings to be discussed on Saturday; they’ll also discuss the liquidity situation, three of the people said.
With the Lira at record lows amid its biggest single-day drop since Feb 2001’s crisis (when groups owning bank, media and holding companies jointly notoriously precipitated the domestic financial crisis by stashing away the home deposits in their offshore branches), Erdogan has made it clear that he is not backing down… for now.
First, Turkey has signaled no desite for an IMF bailout (having seen what happened to Argentina after theirs, who can blame him).
“We have received no indication from the Turkish authorities that they are contemplating a request for financial assistance,” IMF spokesperson Randa Elnagar said in an emailed statement.
And additionally, the Foreign Ministry said in statement.
“Turkey will give the necessary response to every step taken against it, as it has previously up to today,”
For now, at least, the Lira is not getting any worse…
Don’t forget though, as Erdogan said earlier in the day, “they have dollars, we have god.” Good luck buying a mocchachino with some ‘gods’…
“This is a textbook currency crisis that’s morphing into a debt and liquidity crisis due to policy mistakes,” said Win Thin, a strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York.
“The way things are going, markets need to be prepared for a hard landing in the economy, corporate defaults on foreign currency debt, and possible bank failures.”
If Erdogan’s comments above are true – then he has 3 options: 1) Hike rates (he said he wouldn’t), 2) Enforce Capital Controls (he said he wouldn’t), and 3) Confiscate Gold/Dollars…. (he never said he wouldn’t)
