Page 16 - bne_June 060618

16 I Companies & Markets bne June 2018
S&P cuts overheating Turkey deeper into junk on risk of hard landing
bne IntelliNews
Turkey’s credit rating was cut deeper into junk by S&P Global Ratings on May 1 as the rating agency responded to the risk of its overheating economy experiencing
a hard landing.
S&P highlighted the country’s deteriorating inflation outlook and the long-term depreciation and volatility of the Turkish lira (TRY) as well as signs of corporate debt distress.
S&P reduced Turkey’s foreign currency rating from ‘BB/B’ to ‘BB-/B’, on par with Brazil and Vietnam. The local currency sovereign rating was lowered from 'BB+/B' to 'BB/B', while the outlook was given as stable. The rating agency's move was not part of its regularly scheduled review programme for Turkey. That will heighten concerns about the state of the country's economy, with investors still dumping the
TRY despite a rate hike.
Critics claim the facade is falling away from Turkey's economy (pictured is the ancient Roman Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Anatolia).
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SkyPower Global to invest $1.3bn in constructing Uzbek solar power plants
bne IntelliNews
Cayman Islands-based SkyPower Global will invest $1.3bn into the construction of photovoltaic solar energy facilities in Uzbekistan with a total capacity of 1,000 MW, state-run UzDaily news agency reported on May 1.
The Uzbek government is targeting the generation of 21% of the country's electricity from renewable energy sources by 2031. Last June, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed
a law ratifying the charter of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) – a decree from the same month set goals to allocate $5.3bn to 810 investment projects to develop renewable energy up until 2022. In 2016 when Mirziyoyev came to power, Uzbek authorities announced a plan to finance 30 industrial companies' efforts to switch to renewable energy sources for generating electricity.