Cancelling Istanbul’s municipal election results, with the re-run scheduled for June 23, may enable the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) — or, more precisely, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — to install its/his candidate as mayor. Exactly how the AKP intends to achieve this result remains to be seen though.

Another key issue is how the country can make its international reserves last. Current estimates put net reserves at around USD 26B. However, the accounting is opaque, while the extent of currency interventions suggests that the central bank’s policy cushion is extremely limited.

Turkey’s Net International Reserves

Source: The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB). Figures in billions of USD.

About the Author:

Tom Butcher is Director of Communications at VanEck. Formerly an independent writer, researcher, and consultant focusing, amongst other things, on strategic materials, in particular metals, Mr Butcher has 40 years of experience in finance. He has lectured and spoken at conferences around the world.


The article above is an opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of MV Index Solutions or its affiliates.