ANKARA (Sputnik) – On Saturday, the Fitch rating agency lowered Turkey’s rating to the BB+ “junk” level amid “undermined economic performance and institutional independence.”
“Unfounded ratings of agencies, as well as speculative pressure of a range of international actors on the Turkish currency and Turkish financial markets are part of a joint massive campaign aimed at forcing our country into corner,” Kurtulmus was quoted saying by the Anadolu news agency.
He added that the negative prognoses of international rating agencies were often based on political assessment instead of economic evaluation.
In September 2016, Moody’s international rating agency downgraded the long-term credit rating of Turkey from stable Baa3 to Ba1, which means that the country is more vulnerable than it used to be. According to Moody’s, the reason was the increase of risks connected with Turkey’s growing need for financing, as well as the slowdown of the economic growth and decrease of political stability in the country.