(Bloomberg) — Turkey’s top economic officials will speak with foreign investors on Tuesday, the latest attempt by the government to calm markets since the detention of a key opposition figure last week triggered billions of dollars in outflows from Turkish assets.
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Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and central bank Governor Fatih Karahan are scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. London time in a teleconference organized by Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank, the Treasury said on its website. Bloomberg first reported the meeting late on Monday.
The two economy chiefs are expected to reinforce President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pledge yesterday to maintain the broadly investor-friendly policies in place since Simsek, a former Wall Street banker, was appointed in mid-2023. The central bank and the Treasury and Finance Ministry did not respond to requests for comment about the call.
Last Wednesday’s detention and later formal arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan’s most formidable and most popular political rival, has led to mass street protests and sent Turkish assets tumbling. Authorities have taken emergency measures to stem the financial rout, including raising a key overnight interest rate, intervening in the exchange rate, and banning short-selling of Turkish equities.
The lira stabilized late Monday after Erdogan publicly endorsed Simsek’s economic program, and was trading unchanged at 37.9890 per dollar as of 9:10 a.m. in Istanbul on Tuesday. Turkey’s main equities index rose 2.8% on Monday, after dropping 17% last week.
“We will never allow the gains we have made from the economy program implemented in the last two years to be harmed,” Erdogan said in televised remarks after a cabinet meeting on Monday. “Our institutions have both the authority and the will to ensure healthy market mechanisms.”
The government showed no signs of backing down to protesters who’ve been out on the streets daily since Imamoglu’s detention, with Erdogan describing the demonstrations as “evil.” He blamed the opposition’s reaction for market volatility. Forty-one people were detained in Istanbul for allegedly insulting the president and participating in illegal demonstrations, state-run media reported Tuesday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is slated to meet with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Washington on Tuesday. US officials have largely avoided criticism of Turkey since Imamoglu was detained, with State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce last week calling it an internal judicial matter.
