Alternatifbank

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Jan. 14 said it has hiked its financial support to Turkey amid its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Bank stepped up its financing in Turkey to €1.7 billion ($2 billion) in 2020 through 33 projects, from €1 billion in 35 projects in 2019," it said in a statement.

Ratings agency Moody's has said it has upgraded the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of 12 Turkish banks.

Moody's Investors Service has taken rating actions on 17 Turkish banks, changing the ratings outlook from stable to negative on 14 of the lenders.

The ratings of one additional bank were also downgraded with a negative outlook, while the ratings of two other banks were affirmed with outlooks unchanged.

The Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) has now become the sole owner of Turkey's Alternatifbank (ABank) in a deal signed with Turkey's Anadolu Group. 

Despite increased recent attention to relations with Gulf partners such as Qatar, Turkey remains overwhelmingly dependent on Western sources for foreign direct investment (FDI), according to data from the Central Bank. Data shows that 85 percent of FDI came from the EU, other European countries, and the U.S.

Eczacıbaşı, one of Turkey’s largest companies, has announced it will apply to withdraw its construction materials subsidiary from the stock exchange amid an exodus stirred by a new regulation.