Economic Development Foundation Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu indicated that Turkey should be “involved” in the investigation launched in the United States regarding the international credit rating agency Moody’s.

In that respect, Ayhan Zeytinoğlu noted that a report published by the US Senate in 2011, it had been underlined that Moody’s and S&P’s wrong decisions played a significant part in the waste of 11 trillion dollars’ worth of money of the American households during the 2008 financial crisis. Moreover, he highlighted that a 1.5 billion dollar fine had been imposed to S&P as a result of these actions.

Following the report of the Senate, Zeytinoğlu pointed the attention to the fact that the investigation launched by the US Department of Justice is expected to be completed at the end of this year and that a 2 billion dollar fee is expected to be imposed a fine of 2 billion dollars. Moreover, he also noted that  Turkey needs to be a party to an investigation against Moody’s, which had contributed in changing the international perceptions regarding the Turkish economy by downgrading its credit rating from “favourable” to “unfavourable” following the 15 July coup attempt.

Indicating that it is of utmost importance to follow very closely the investigation process, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu also noted the following: “Moody’s, as it did in the US, had taken a controversial decision by downgrading our country’s credit rating last September, thus further opening the markets to manipulation. We had said from the beginning that this decision is political and is not based on purely economic reasons.  As a result of the damage endured by our economy, we do believe that Turkey should be a party to this investigation which we find proper and that it should register the injustice it had been faced with”.

Furthermore, stressing that the credit rating agencies do not reflect the real status of countries, Zeytinoğlu pursued and observed as follows: “Nowadays, international investors are no more taking into consideration these institutions which have lost their prestige in the international arena. Indeed, experienced investors would rather prefer to research by themselves the financial indicators of a country or a company of interest for them”.

Assessing the macro-economic factors which may influence the “credibility” note of Turkey, Zeytinoğlu concluded by adding the following: “We can clearly see that we are in a better state than many developed and developing countries in terms of current account balance, budget and growth figures. Our average growth potential is esteemed to be at around 4%. Our economic reforms are being pursued rapidly. Our interest rate and inflation indicators are positive”.