Turkey criticizes downgraded credit rating
Turkey blames its long-standing quarrel with credit rating agencies on hasty misperceptions of its political stability.
Turkey has a long history of bickering with credit rating agencies, just like a student squabbling over grades with the teacher. So much so that even when ratings go up, government officials will grumble, “We deserve better.”
Turkey’s 22-year bickering with Moody’s has been especially bitter. The agency has even earned itself a nickname in Turkey — schoolboy lingo for a miserly teacher that translates roughly as “professor who always hands out zeros.”
Last week, Moody’s triggered fresh uproar in Ankara when it downgraded Turkey’s outlook from “stable” to “negative,” unleashing a hail of criticism from ministers and bureaucrats.
Why is Turkey so thin-skinned with credit rating agencies and especially Moody’s? Why does it react so furiously to unfavorable grades and reviews? Let’s take a look at Turkey’s report card first.
