Turkey Cut Deeper Into Junk as S&P Sees Recession Next Year
- S&P Global Ratings projects economy will contract in 2019
- Moody’s flags concern of weakening central bank independence
A customer uses a currency exchange in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, Aug. 10, 2018.
Photographer: Ismail Ferdous/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Turkey’s credit rating was cut further into junk Friday by S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service, which said the volatile lira and wide current-account deficit may undermine the Middle East’s largest economy.
S&P reduced Turkey’s foreign-currency rating to four notches below investment grade at B+ from BB-, on par with Argentina, Greece and Fiji. Moody’s lowered its grade to Ba3 from Ba2, three notches below investment grade. The ratings companies said the weak currency, runaway inflation and current-account deficit are Turkey’s key vulnerabilities.