Economy
Liquidity measures to continue amid Türkiye fund probe, Şimşek says
Legal proceedings against those involved in market-distorting transactions in the fund market are continuing, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said Monday, adding that liquidity measures needed to support financial stability would be maintained.
Authorities moved in quickly earlier this month to ensure market stability and launched investigations into suspected share-price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks that triggered heavy losses and redemption pressures at investment funds.
The government is protecting fund investors’ rights amid the turmoil, Şimşek said on the social media platform X, while stressing that investment, employment, production, and export capacity in the real sector remain a priority.
Almost half a million investors hold stakes in 131 investment funds that are said to be worth around $20 billion, which authorities ordered to be liquidated on Sept. 17.
Şimşek said the Treasury and Finance Ministry was coordinating with the Justice Ministry.
“Necessary measures will continue to be taken to prevent adverse effects on the financial system and the real economy. In this context, the liquidity required by the market will be provided,” he said.
The number of arrests in connection with the suspected stock manipulation has risen to 51, according to officials.
The problems emerged after Türkiye’s Capital Markets Board (SPK) changed its guidelines for investment funds, saying they could no longer invest all their assets in one stock but were required to diversify.
The move sought to address concerns that many funds were heavily investing in a small number of obscure or hard-to-sell stocks.
To comply, some funds began selling holdings, spooking investors who started trying to cash in their investments.
But a scandal erupted almost two weeks ago when several companies admitted they were unable to satisfy investor redemption demands.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last week there was no risk to either the financial system or the Turkish economy.
“All necessary steps are being taken within the framework of capital market regulations and the law. Whoever is responsible will be held accountable before the law,” Erdoğan told reporters.
Separately, Türkiye lifted asset-freeze orders imposed on 46 companies under the investigation, media reported Monday.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement the decision was taken following new assessments and notifications from the Capital Markets Board, NTV and other media reported.
Istanbul’s main BIST 100 index was down 2.7% Monday after a loss of 2.9% the previous week. The index has fallen back to levels last seen in early March.
The companies affected by the prosecutor’s statement were among dozens of legal entities, investment funds and individuals whose assets were frozen as investigators examined large stock market transactions carried out between July, when the funds reached peak assets under management, and Sept. 16, the day before the SPK ordered the liquidation of the funds.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said last week investigators were scrutinizing large share purchases and sales during that period under the probe into alleged market manipulation.
Authorities had frozen the assets of 46 companies, 18 funds and 42 individuals and imposed overseas travel bans on 37 people.
At the weekend, a deputy chair of Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said she was stepping down so the claims could be “clarified” after allegations she had sold shares worth tens of millions of dollars shortly before the problems emerged.
“I have submitted my request to our party chairman to be excused from all positions and responsibilities I currently hold,” Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya wrote on X.
“I believe it’s necessary to take political responsibility to ensure the office I hold doesn’t become the subject of public debate and that investigation can be conducted independently, impartially, and without any suspicion or undue influence.”
AK Party spokesperson Ömer Çelik said Erdoğan had accepted Kaya’s resignation.
“We declare that all those who are involved in irregularities, corruption, abuse or anything that causes harm will be held accountable,” Çelik added.
Chinese authorities introduced new measures on Tuesday to help boost the economy and its laggard property sector as pressures build up in anticipation of hitting the year-end economic growth goal.
The measures, some of the bigger moves made this year by Chinese officials, include encouraging targeted bank lending and new subsidies for homebuyers’ mortgage interest payments.
China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said it will be lowering the interest rate for its “pledged supplementary lending” facility, or PSL, by a quarter of a percentage point, bringing the one-year rate down to 1.5%.
PSL is low-cost financing that China’s central bank provides to its major state policy banks to support state and public projects.
The central bank said that by cutting the rates, it hopes to better incentivize banks and better “serve national strategies.”
The central bank will also increase the quota of relending for technological innovation by 200 billion yuan (about $30 billion) to a total of 1.4 trillion yuan.
Separately, China’s Ministry of Finance announced new mortgage interest subsidies for homebuyers. From October, eligible first-time homebuyers can receive subsidies equal to an annualized rate of 1 percentage point on the mortgage principal, for a period of up to five years.
To qualify for the subsidies, the purchased property should measure up to 120 square meters (1,292 square feet) in floor area, and its price should be up to 1.5 million yuan.
Tuesday’s measures represent “a targeted approach with lower funding costs to support selected sectors through policy banks and the real estate sector,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia-Pacific at French bank Natixis.
For the property sector, they aim “to support housing demand in lower-tier cities, which are still facing severe headwinds,” Ng added.
Chinese leaders are targeting a 4.5%-5% growth rate for its economy for the whole of 2026, slower than last year’s 5% growth.
In the April-June quarter, China reported its economy slowed to a 4.3% expansion, marking the weakest growth pace in more than three years.
The country’s property sector has been under years-long pressure following a liquidity crunch in its real estate industry that came after Chinese officials cracked down on excessive borrowing, with overall home prices falling roughly 20% or more compared to 2021.
Tuesday’s measures are likely meant to help China meet the minimum annual growth target, Ng said.
The announcements also came after China’s State Council on Monday discussed strengthening and improving the effectiveness of macro policies in response to challenges in the economy.
The Spanish government introduced several urgent measures on Tuesday, including a potential ban on evictions until 2030 and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts, a minister said, following days of massive housing protests.
Unaffordable housing has been a running sore for years in Spain, but the outcry over last Wednesday’s eviction of 87-year-old Madrid pensioner Maricarmen Abascal sparked national uproar.
Demonstrators have set up around 100 tents in Madrid’s emblematic Puerta del Sol square since Saturday night, while tens of thousands of people have protested across the country.
The Socialist-led government raced to finalize a deal with far-left coalition partners Sumar at a key Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
But the measures hang in the balance, as the coalition lacks a majority in a heavily fragmented parliament, which must pass them.
Health Minister Monica Garcia listed on social media a series of measures, including the eviction ban and the automatic contract renewals, saying what had been achieved was “unimaginable a month ago.”
Garcia also mentioned the regulation of short-term rentals and a “ban on the purchase of housing by vulture funds,” without providing further details.
“Thank you to the mobilizations and the camps. Without you, this would not have been possible,” said the Sumar minister.
Justice Minister Felix Bolanos wrote on X: “Today is a great day for tenants and small homeowners. And a bad one for speculators.”
Socialist Housing Minister Isabel Rodriguez was due to offer a press conference with details on the measures agreed on by the Cabinet.
‘Structural changes’ needed
The camping protesters in central Madrid had warned their movement would continue if the government failed to meet their demands.
Guillermo Mendez, who had traveled hundreds of kilometers from the northern region of Asturias to join the camp, said only “structural changes will change things.”
“It has to be something on a national scale, general strikes, protests,” the 40-year-old tourist guide said.
Abascal, who was evicted on a stretcher from her Madrid home of 70 years, has become a symbol of popular anger at runaway housing prices and a lack of tenant protections.
A deal was announced on Monday for her to return after negotiations with the real estate firm that owned her apartment, which the Madrid Tenants’ Union said hiked her monthly rent by 275% to 2,650 euros ($3,000).
Mendez said it was “great” that Abascal’s case had been resolved, but added: “It’s a plaster on a huge wound that the economy and society of this country are suffering.”
Turkish and African competition authorities came together in Istanbul for the “Türkiye-Africa Competition Authorities Istanbul Meeting” to discuss opportunities, policies and potential to enhance cooperation between their respective organizations.
The inaugural meeting was hosted by the Turkish Competition Authority (RK) on Sept. 29-30 in Istanbul, with the participation of the presidents and senior representatives of the competition authorities of African countries and international and regional institutions working in the area of competition law and policy in the African region.
The meeting kicked off on Tuesday in the presidency’s Dolmabahçe working office and was addressed by Turkish Competition Authority President Birol Küle and his African counterparts.
The initiative was launched in line with the recent efforts of the RK to share knowledge and experience, in particular with Balkan competition authorities and the competition authorities of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), “as well as with other competition authorities in our geographical region,” the RK said.
The platform organization also aligns with the multidimensional partnership that has recently developed between Türkiye and Africa, as well as the increasing strategic importance of both parties in the global economy, according to the RK.
“In line with the multidimensional partnership that has recently developed between Türkiye and Africa, as well as the increasing strategic importance of both parties in the global economy, to strengthen the contribution of competition policies to economic growth, investments, consumer welfare and sustainable development, activities have been initiated to enhance cooperation between our authority and African competition authorities,” the RK said in a press statement.
It also said that the long-term institutional cooperation planned to be strengthened between the RK and the competition authorities across the African continent aims to “serve for promoting competition culture in our region, developing institutional capacities and consequently supporting open, fair and competitive markets.”
Strengthening competition culture
In his opening remarks, the head of the Turkish Competition Authority highlighted the belief that cooperation among the institutions would “contribute to strengthening competitive conditions and competition culture both in our countries and throughout our region.”
“Promoting the enforcement of competition law also enhances the growth prospects of developing countries,” Küle said.
He also pointed out that the rapid pace of technological development and digitalization makes regional and international cooperation indispensable.
Küle also underscored the importance of international cooperation and laws, as he mentioned a belief and conviction “that competition law can accomplish certain ‘miracles.'”
“I emphasize the word ‘international’ because one thing is now clear: alongside the constitutions of individual countries, we are also intertwined with structures that shape and organize our economies through the international regimes and practices that guide them,” he said.
Senior representatives of the African Union Economic Development, Tourism, Trade, Industry, Minerals (ETTIM), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCC), the East African Community Competition Authority (EACCA) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which are regional, international institutions working in the area of competition law and policy in the African continent attended the gathering.
The meeting was also attended by the presidents and senior representatives of the competition authorities of Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Egypt, Eswatini, Gambia, the Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, the Republic of South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
All delegations participating in the meeting expressed their appreciation to the Turkish Competition Authority, emphasizing the contribution that the meeting will make to the development of competition culture in the African continent.
They described the event as “important and timely,” contributing to building “bridges” for dialogue and collaboration between the competition regulators of Türkiye and Africa.
The meeting was organized in cooperation with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).
Following the meeting, the president of the Turkish Competition Authority read out the joint declaration, which agreed to areas such as periodically sharing experience and information on the legislation and practices of countries in the area of competition policy, carrying out joint projects, organizing meetings and events, and conducting capacity-building activities among competition authorities.
Russian authorities have taken control of the assets of German wholesale and food retailer giant Metro in the country and put them under temporary administration, according to a decree published Monday, marking the latest in a series of business takeovers linked to countries that back Ukraine.
The decree, signed by President Vladimir Putin, announced that the Russian operations of Metro Cash and Carry had been put under the “temporary management” of a company called UK Torg RUS.
This comes after Moscow earlier this month seized the businesses and assets of Swiss food giant Nestle, as well as French retailer Auchan and the former Leroy Merlin DIY chain.
In its latest yearly report, the company said its sales in Russia amounted to 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in the 2024/2025 financial year.
The cash and cash equivalents of Metro’s Russian group companies amounted to 152 million euros ($172 million) as of June 30, the company said in its latest quarterly report.
Most Western companies quickly sold their Russian operations and holdings after the Kremlin ordered troops into Ukraine, or at least isolated them, as sanctions have made trading in most goods difficult.
Others remained, citing concerns for their employees or citizens’ well-being, but often sharply scaling back their operations.
Russia has since made it difficult for firms to leave, requiring presidential authorization for deals or seizing the assets outright.
Türkiye’s capital market is resilient and its foundations are strong, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday as he reiterated that the recent issue in the market is restricted to a segment of the market and vowed necessary legal action.
“The problem in question has taken place in a limited part of the fund market. There is no risk that has spread to our financial system,” Erdoğan said.
“The Turkish capital markets is resilient and has strong foundations. It has more than enough capacity to overcome this challenge with ease,” he said in live remarks after the Cabinet meeting in Ankara.
“When the peace of our people is at stake, and when the economic security, prosperity, and development of our 86 million citizens are at stake, we will not show even the slightest hesitation in taking action,” he added.
He also went on to say that authorities “are proceeding with the utmost caution,” given the nature of capital markets, and added that work concerning the liquidation process of the funds that have been closed “is being carried out meticulously.”
The president said the government was working to ensure that all necessary steps were being taken, adding that work was underway to implement measures to prevent such a problem from happening again.
“Türkiye has an economic size approaching $2 trillion today. Türkiye’s financial system is strong,” Erdoğan also said.
Legal proceedings against those involved in market-distorting transactions in the fund market are continuing, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said earlier on Monday, adding that liquidity measures needed to support financial stability would be maintained.
Authorities moved in quickly earlier this month to ensure market stability and launched investigations into suspected share-price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks that triggered heavy losses and redemption pressures at investment funds.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan also said he would meet his economic team and representatives from the relevant institutions on Tuesday to discuss the matter, adding that the government would not allow people’s rights to be violated.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday plans to build a multi-billion-dollar steel mill in the Midwest state of Iowa, handing the administration a marquee manufacturing investment ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump unveiled the project at the White House with executives from Mesabi Metallics, which recently opened Minnesota’s first new iron ore mine in 50 years.
A White House official said the plant investment would amount to $15 billion. The planned plant was also described as “the largest ever” in U.S. history.
The announcement comes as Trump seeks to bolster his economic record ahead of November’s election, with his approval rating plummeting to all-time lows as the Republican Party confronts voter concerns about inflation and the cost of living.
Trump has made tariffs and a revival of U.S. manufacturing central to his economic agenda, arguing that higher barriers to imports will drive investment and jobs back to the United States.
But Republicans are in the midst of several competitive elections in Iowa, a once-swingy state that has more consistently voted for Trump’s party in recent years. Polling this cycle shows a tight race for a seat in the U.S. Senate, as well as its gubernatorial race, where the Democratic candidate, Rob Sand, has led most polls.
The potential $15 billion steel project gives Trump a high-profile investment to tout as he makes that case to voters. It also comes as the administration faces pressure to show that its policies imposing broad tariffs on U.S. imports can deliver industrial gains without fueling inflation.
“This is a tremendous investment,” Trump said in the White House’s Oval Office. “Our steel industry is roaring back to life.”
New jobs expected
Global steel markets have been sluggish in recent months due in part to overcapacity, particularly in China, and lackluster demand. In the U.S., however, steel prices have been higher because of trade barriers, boosting the appeal of domestic projects despite their high construction costs.
Trump imposed a 25% tariff on most imported steel during his first term, a levy that his successor, Democrat Joe Biden, largely kept in place.
The new project will be fully vertically integrated, with Mesabi using iron ore from its Minnesota mine to produce steel in Iowa. The first phase will produce 7.5 million tons of steel annually, with the plant eventually expected to reach 10 million tons, which the White House described as the largest steel plant in U.S. history.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the announcement.
The Mesabi steel project would use iron ore extracted from the company’s mine in Nashwauk, Minnesota, roughly 250 miles from the Iowa border.
Indian conglomerate Essar Group owns Mesabi and has invested more than $2.5 billion in the Minnesota mine.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Export-Import Bank said it would finance $10 billion for the mine’s expansion, and the bank’s chair, John Jovanovic, visited the site.
The Minnesota mine is expected to create about 350 jobs, while the Iowa steel plant is expected to create at least 1,750 permanent jobs, a White House official said. The first phase is also expected to support 5,000 to 6,000 construction jobs.
It was not immediately clear why Mesabi aims to build a steel mill in Iowa using iron ore extracted from Minnesota.
The company was not immediately available to comment.
Power can be a major cost for steel producers, and commercial electricity prices in Iowa are marginally lower than in Minnesota.
The first phase of the project is expected to generate $95 billion in total economic impact during construction and its first 10 years of operation, according to the White House. First steel production is expected in 2030.
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