'Dr. Doom' optimistic about Turkish assets, lira

By Gokhan Kurtaran

LONDON (AA) - A well-known international investor has told Anadolu Agency there may be more interest developing in Turkish assets as there are "good reasons" for capital to flow into the country.

Marc Faber is editor and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report which bills itself as “an in-depth economic and financial publication, which highlights unusual investment opportunities around the world”.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Tuesday he said: "I mean [the] economy has been doing reasonably well. I think the perception internationally of [Turkish president] Erdogan is rather going to improve than worsen.”

“The performance of the Turkish stock exchange is an example," Faber -- sometimes dubbed ‘Dr. Doom’ -- added.

Turkey's benchmark index saw its highest level of all time during the day to reach 96,750.52 on Tuesday.

Stock exchange investors have earned around 24 percent on Borsa Istanbul from the beginning of the year.

Claiming the Turkish lira was undervalued but would likely strengthen, Faber said it would ultimately depend on the U.S. dollar.

Faber said investor sentiment was supportive of the dollar over the last two-to-three years but might reverse, something which would benefit emerging markets.

"Especially the money printing in Japan and in Europe led the liquidity fleeing Europe and Japan and investing in U.S. assets and treasury bonds, equities.

“So the dollar was essentially strengthening. But now this capital flow might reverse and move back into Europe, the Japanese yen and into emerging markets," he stated.

Faber said money was flowing back to countries like Turkey as it had already outperformed in 2017.

"Last year, the best performing markets were Russia and Brazil. I don’t see why Turkey would not be a strong performer. Very meaningfully, the Turkish market is up by, in dollar terms, 20 percent,” he said.

Faber said he was interested in investment opportunities regarding Turkish assets, saying he would continue to keep Turkish bonds which were issued by Turkish companies in U.S. dollars.