iBanFirst adds Turkish Lira to its foreign currency portfolio

iBanFirst, a platform specialized in multi-currency transactions for companies, has just announced that it has added the Turkish Lira to its foreign currency offer.

iBanFirst customers will now be able to have a dedicated account for their Turkish Lira transactions; allowing them to receive and issue payments directly in the foreign currency as well as allowing them to carry out foreign exchange transactions on the platform, all the while benefiting from real-time rates.

Our goal is to help companies grow internationally with the right tools, we carefully monitor the market to enrich our platform with new currencies according to their needs,” explained Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier, CEO and founder of iBanFirst. Since 2017, Turkish exports have been booming and French companies have benefited particularly in the automobile industry: Turkish exports rose from 9.2% in 2002 to 15.3% in 2017.

According to the World Bank’s “Ease of doing business” index, Turkey’s competitiveness is improving and gaining nine points in the ranking. The country thus reaches 60th place worldwide (out of 119 countries). This increase is explained by methodological changes but also by an increase in exports and a relaxation of the Turkish regulatory environment, facilitating the creation of new businesses in particular.

In 2017, Turkey was amongst the world’s leading exporting economies with an export growth of 10.2%. This performance places it ahead of the United States, the European Union and China (with a respective increase in exports over the same period of 6.2%, 7.4% and 7.5%). This contributes to increasing Turkey’s share in international trade. The latter rose from 0.55% in the early 2000s to 0.97% last year. The government’s official target is to reach 1.5% in the near future. In March 2018, exports increased by 11.5% compared to March 2017, reaching for the first time the amount of 15 billion dollars (total value of 160 billion dollars over the last ten months). This trend makes this goal achievable.

The increase in exports regarding Turkey is explained by a combination of four major factors:

  • the fall of the Turkish Lira against its main counterparts, particularly against the US dollar, which has fallen by 50% since 2013, a phenomenon that automatically gives the Turkish industry a competitive advantage
  • relatively low interest rates charged by the Turkish Central Bank to support domestic growth
  • accommodating monetary conditions at the global level (asset buybacks, interest rates close to zero or negative, etc.) that stimulate the growth of international trade and the use of low-cost credit for households and businesses
  • a policy of investment support implemented by the State (tax incentives for local and foreign producers).

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