Economy Talks: Ümit Leblebici

As Marmara University European Research Institute, we hosted Turkish Economy Bank (TEB) General Manager Mr. Ümit Leblebici at the Central Library Conference Hall on November 20, 2018 between 14:00-16:00 as part of the “Economy Talks” series.

In his interactive presentation to the  students, Mr. Ümit Leblebici made a comprehensive presentation on what happened in the economy in 2018 and what is expected from the economy in 2019.

Mr. Leblebici provided information about the reasons for the economic fluctuations in 2018. Stating that what should have been done in case of exchange rate fluctuations was to increase interest rates and that this was done, Leblebici said that he expected 2019 to be overcome without any problems under normal conditions.

In the presentation, Mr. Leblebici stated that growth was 7.5% in 2017 and 2.3% in 2018; It was emphasized that this corresponds to a 5% growth on an annual basis and that a contraction should not be expected again in 2019.

Leblebici, who stated that the current account deficit is decreasing, stated that the 12-month current account deficit was 46 billion dollars as of September and that if this trend continues, the current account deficit will be closed within 2019.

He said that from the perspective of banks, banks do not have problems with syndicated loans and that banks can generally renew syndicated loans without difficulty.

He emphasized that although the deposit structures of banks are said to be very short-term, it is actually possible to say that the passive structure of banks is less fragile than expected since the term deposit does not leave the bank for another bank during the year.

Ümit Leblebici said that the Capital Markets in Turkey should develop further. He emphasized that the free float rate is very low and that money cannot be attracted to the capital markets because publicly traded companies do not distribute dividends.

The Economic Talks, which saw intense participation, became even more enjoyable with the qualified questions from the students. The Economic Talks, which lasted about one and a half hours, ended with a photo shoot.