Foreign capital inflows into Turkey remain strong

Despite record-low interest rates, international capital inflows to Turkey remain strong - a total of $684 million in foreign capital entered the country in April.

Net foreign capital inflows between January and April stood at $4.7 billion, corresponding to an annual rise of 12.6 percent, according to Treasury data released Tuesday.

The amount of foreign capital entering Turkey was at $470 million in January, $691 million in February and $2.8 billion in March, Anatolia news agency reported. Wealthy Gulf Arabs seeking a safe place to store their cash in March chose Turkey, according to various press reports in May, accounting for the month’s spike in capital inflow.

Property purchases account for around $300 million of the April figure, while the remaining $384 million went to other areas of the economy.

Foreign direct capital in the first four months of the year totaled $6 billion, while $1.77 billion exited the economy in the same period. More than $4.32 billion of the capital that entered Turkey in the period went toward "activities of financial intermediary institutions," while $536 million involved the energy sector.

More than 88 percent of the capital entering the economy came from European Union countries - $916 million entered from members of the EU in the first four months of 2010, and $5.32 billion have come in this year. Nearly $720 million of this year’s inflow came from France alone.

In April alone, 277 foreign-capital companies were established in Turkey, while 55 companies involving some foreign capital were created. In the first four months of the year, a total of 1,211 foreign-capital companies were founded, according to the data.


/Hurriyat Daily News/