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deficit among Borsa Istanbul companies​. Its deficit rose further to $9.23bn, 37% of total assets, at end-June from $8.7bn, 35% of total assets, at end-March. ​The company also posted a stunning loss of TRY2.23bn in Q2​, bringing its total loss in H1 to TRY4.26bn.
The flag carrier is becoming an additional trouble for Turkey​, which never does not suffer from a lack of troubles. The general manager of the ​Turkish Wealth Fund (TWF), Zafer Sonmez, whom some critics have down as a fantasist, has implied that a required consolidation in the aviation industry may be led by Turkish Airlines​.
Low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines is also among the leading FX deficit carriers with $700mn, or 19% of total assets, at end-June.
Tupras’ parent Koc Holding, meanwhile, was carrying a chunky $536mn FX deficit on its balance sheet as of end-June but it was only 1% of its total assets.
Koc Holding’s carmakers Tofas and Ford Otosan had weighty FX deficits of $458mn (22%) and $773mn (29%), respectively, as of end-Q2.
4.4​ Fixed investment
Turkish polyester producer Sasa Polyester Sanayi and US-based Koch Industries ​signed​ an agreement to build a $935mn purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant. PTA is a key component in polyester production in eastern Turkey.
The plant, which will be constructed in the province of Adana and completed in 2022, will have an annual production capacity of 1.5mn tonnes, Sasa said in a statement.
A company press release added that Turkey's PTA imports stood at 629,000 tonnes in 2019 and 410,000 tonnes in the first half of 2020.
4.5 ​Labour and income
4.5.1​ Labour market, unemployment dynamics
Turkey's official labour participation rate was 47.6% in the April-June period compared to 52.9% a year ago and 47.2% a month earlier, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) ​said​ on August 10.
The effect of many parts of the economy coming to a near halt amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was also seen in employment, which dropped 2.4mn y/y in the period to 25.9mn.
The TUIK also said that the number of those not in the labour force because they have lost hope of finding work leapt to 1.358mn from 558,000 a year earlier.
The labour force participation rate among youths, classified as aged 15-24, fell to 35.4% in the April-June period from 43.6% a year earlier.
In April, the government ordered a three-month ban on layoffs to help soften the impact of the pandemic. Those placed on unpaid leave are not included in the unemployment figures. Thus, the unemployment rate was officially 12.9% in April-June 2020, compared to 12.8% both a month earlier and in April-June 2019. The non-agricultural unemployment rate rose to 15.2% from 15.0% a
30​ TURKEY Country Report​ September 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com