Fitch Ratings Confirmed Turkey's Credit Rating

Fitch Ratings confirmed Turkey's credit rating. The agency announced that the countries rating as "BB-".

International credit rating agency Fitch Ratings announced that it has affirmed Turkey's credit rating as "BB-" and its outlook as "stable". Fitch Ratings, in its assessment dated February 19, 2021, stated Turkey's credit rating as "BB-" and changed its outlook from "negative" to "stable". The following statements were made by Fitch Ratings: “Turkey's rating reflects high financing requirements, weak monetary policy on the side of geopolitical risks, high inflation and low external liquidity. The Stable Outlook reflects uncertainty due to inflation, the lack of central bank independence and the potential for destabilization ahead of the general elections to be held until 2023. Political concerns are limiting the central bank's ability to raise the policy rate despite rising inflation (18.95 percent per year in July). We expect inflation to decline to 16.9 percent by the end of 2021 due to the positive base effect and slowing domestic demand. Second, it will be driven in part by a significant slowdown in loan growth due to tighter financial conditions, the phasing out of the 2020 loan stimulus, and the introduction of measures aimed at retail loan growth. We revised our growth forecast to 7.9 percent in 2021 from 6.3 percent in June due to the high rollover effect (especially after the strong performance in 1Q21) and continued resilience in economic activity."