On the foreign exchange market, the Turkish lira rose significantly on Monday. The reason for the increase was new restrictions on lending to companies in Turkey. In return, the euro fell by almost three percent to 17.32 lira, the dollar temporarily fell by more than four percent to 16.81 lira. According to the Turkish banking regulator, companies with foreign exchange reserves of more than $900,000 are no longer allowed to receive new lira loans if this sum exceeds ten percent of assets or annual sales. Experts expect that these companies will now increasingly exchange their currencies for lira. However, this does not change the fundamentally high demand for dollars, euros and other important currencies, said Timothy Ash, an analyst at asset manager Blue Bay. “It is being driven by high inflation, low interest rates and a fundamental loss of confidence in politics.” Murat Gülkan, head of the investment advisor OMG, doubted that the measures would have the desired effect. Companies could also use their foreign exchange to buy commodities or stocks. Meanwhile, the euro strengthened against the dollar. The common currency appreciated by half a cent to $ 1.0601.
Wheat prices fell again on global agricultural commodity exchanges. A ton of wheat on the Matif in Paris cost $348.56, more than half a percent less than last Friday. Market observers referred to reports from Egypt as the reason for the current price decline. Accordingly, the country plans to reduce wheat imports. The North African country is a major importer of wheat from the war zone. Russia and Ukraine are among the most important wheat-growing countries in the world. Both countries together covered about a quarter of the world wheat trade before the war.