Page 67 - TURKRptSept19

According to data out of the finance ministry, non-residents’ share in the government’s domestic debt stock rose to 11%, or TRY83.1bn, in July from 10.8%, or TRY79.4bn, as of June. Foreigners' share has gradually declined, moving down from 19% in April 2018 to 10% in May this year.
Turkey’s official consumer price index (CPI) inflation rose slightly to 16.65% in July from 15.72% in June.
The Turkish Treasury has been borrowing unlawfully since July, Hakan Ozyildiz, a former Treasury official, wrote on August 16 on its personal blog. In January-July, the Treasury’s net borrowing amounted to TRY98bn, including TRY70bn domestic borrowing and TRY28bn external borrowing. According to 2019 budget law, the budget deficit is expected to stand at TRY81.7bn this year. The government has an automatic 5% right to increase its borrowing over the budget deficit and another 5% could be executed via presidential decree. When two 5% increases added, the government has a right of borrowing TRY90.1bn this year. A presidential decree or an amendment to the budget law have not been introduced yet.
9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1 Oil & gas sector news
Engineers have welded into place 99% of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)'s onshore section, the project’s operators said on Twitter on July 31. The pipeline, which runs across Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before terminating in Italy, is due to start transporting Azeri gas next year. While onshore construction is almost finished, TAP is yet to make significant progress offshore. Work began preparing the seabed for the 105-km Adriatic section in October last year. But it was not until April this year that Italy’s Saipem lowered the first of TAP’s offshore pipes into place. TAP is slated to flow 10bn cubic metres per year of gas at peak capacity, receiving these supplies from Azerbaijan via the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) through Georgia and the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey. TAP’s investors – which include BP, Snam, Azerbaijan’s SOCAR, Belgium’s Fluxys, Spain’s Enagas and Swiss-based Axpo – are currently weighing up a potential expansion that could see the pipeline supply up to 20 bcm of gas.
Iran has said it is opposed to the construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline due to ecology concerns, Ria Novosti reported from the Caspian Economic Forum in the Turkmen resort of Avaza on August 12. An official from National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said the plan to connect Turkmenistan’s gas fields with Azerbaijan with a subsea pipeline would cause serious ecological damage in the Caspian Sea. The Turkmen would like to see their gas transited through the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline flow on to European markets via Azerbaijan. Iran has an eye on tying neighbouring Turkmenistan into Iran’s gas network, a move that would allow Tehran to accrue transit income from gas sent further afield to export markets. If via Azerbaijani and Georgian links Turkmenistan was connected to the Trans Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) that reaches the Greek border through Turkey, the Turkmen would open up a route to exporting gas to European markets. TANAP connects to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that is to reach southern Italy via Albania and a subsea route under the Adriatic Sea.
67 TURKEY Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com