Turkey’s finance minister to continue investor meetings in London next week -bankers

Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, accompanied by Ziraat Bank CEO Alpaslan Cakar, leaves after attending 66th General Assembly of Turkish Banks Association in Istanbul Turkey August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

ANKARA/LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek will hold investor meetings in London next week, five bankers said on Thursday, as Ankara continues talks to draw in international investments and financing to bolster its policy U-turn.

The meetings will be held on Oct. 3-4, the bankers said. The Turkish Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Simsek, a highly respected policy maker, was appointed in June by President Tayyip Erdogan to pivot after the president’s unorthodox policies led to a currency crisis in 2021. Last week, he met investors in New York.

Simsek, who also met investors in Gulf states this year, is expected to hold similar talks with investors in Asia by year-end. The investor meetings, along with the government’s medium-term programme announced earlier this month, aim to reverse a years-long exodus of foreign investment.

Foreigners had largely moved away from Turkey over the last five years in the face of slashed interest rates despite soaring inflation. The central bank has, however, hiked rates by 2,150 basis points since the pivot in June.

Simsek has said the economic programme has Erdogan’s support and the president has voiced confidence in his new economy team including Hafize Gaye Erkan, the central bank’s first woman governor.

Authorities have also raised taxes to limit budget deficits, cooled domestic demand, begun rolling back a costly depreciation-protected deposit scheme, and raised FX reserves to head off any possible current account deficit crisis.

Goldman Sachs said it may now be possible to “beat the FX depreciation reflected in forward pricing” and that carry trade in the lira could be back. It also said real rates in Turkey, still deeply negative despite the flurry of rate hikes, were on track to turn positive by year-end.

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