Fitch warns of 'government intervention' for Turkish banks: 'It constrains their ratings'
In a report published on Thursday evening, Fitch Ratings stated, "Operating environment and government intervention risks constrain the ratings of major Turkish banks."
12punto
Fitch Ratings stated that, given Turkey's "weak foreign currency fiscal flexibility and foreign exchange reserves," government intervention in the banking sector limits the banks' ratings to "B-," one notch below the sovereign rating.
Bank ratings are primarily determined based on their viability ratings or standalone credit profiles.
The viability ratings of private banks İş Bankası, Garanti, Yapı Kredi, and Akbank are one notch above their 'b-' operating environment score.
According to Fitch, this situation reflects the strength of these banks' capitalization, funding, and liquidity profiles relative to operating environment risks.