The BIST 100 index's growth expectations with serious returns after the elections have raised the appetite of some speculative investors, Borsa Istanbul Chairman Himmet Karadağ said Friday.
Exchange and interest rates as well as rating agencies that released statements lacking keen analysis calculate to get Turkish bonds at a bargain price and sell at high prices after the elections while steering the perception of foreign investors on Turkish markets, the BIST chairman claimed.
"Ongoing public offerings and other foreign investors stock enable us to see that these moves are not very successful," Karadağ said, adding that after the elections, Borsa Istanbul will maintain its strong growth motivation.
Karadağ recalled that along with the referendum held last year, Turkey's ruling system transformed into presidential government system so as to eliminate the instability.
"The only period that would negatively affect us was the presidential and parliamentary general elections in 2019. As it became clear that political uncertainties would be eliminated with the early elections, all of our economic units responded positively to this," he continued. "Our stock market index has risen. When we talked to our companies and international financial circles, the flow of funds to our country also significantly increased."
Pointing out that until 2019, an interim period was actually foreseen, Karadağ stated that the only analysis that would disrupt expectations in macroeconomics in this sense was political unpredictability. He added that because these interim periods and transition periods increase political uncertainties, economic decision makers postpone investment decisions, while companies shift employment and many decisions, and the uncertainty is reflected negatively in the economy.
Karadağ noted that in this short period, they turn to several speculative investment movements and want to change the perception towards Turkey to negative, collect shares by creating serious small manipulative fluctuations and get them at bargain price, adding that they somehow calculate that in the post-election period, they will be able to sell them at very high prices, along with political stability.
"These investors found both the players feeding on domestic actors on the inside and foreign manipulative actors," he said. "For example, S&P, though not in the calendar, immediately downgraded Turkey's credit rating. For a long time, the ratings of rating and credit agencies have already lost credibility. But they cannot help themselves even with the credibility they lost. They are also embarking on empty, manipulative statements. This is a part of that fiction."
He said in terms of BIST 30 and BIST 100 companies' financial statements, income projections and realizations on the micro scale, there is no picture worse than 2017. Recalling that last year's growth was called "base effect," Karadağ said 2018 has even surpassed 2017, especially in tourism reservations and occupancy rates, progressing very positively.
Karadağ advised investors to be careful and continue to rely on the Turkish economy and Borsa Istanbul, urging them not to take negative steps by getting sucked into the negative atmosphere spread by the manipulative rating agencies. "The future is bright. They should continue to invest in highly qualified companies, making use of corporate experience. They should not be affected by short-term fluctuations," Karadağ said, suggesting that the aim of such manipulative actors is to bring the investors' trust down with short-term shocks and get their shares at very low prices. Underlining that they aim to inform investors correctly during such transition periods, he said that when analyzing the index movements, they have already seen that many investors do not give credit to them.
