Türkiye's Stock Market Hit Hard after Arrest of Istanbul Mayor

Police officers intervene as flames rise from a fire in a dustbin during a protest by students against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Police officers intervene as flames rise from a fire in a dustbin during a protest by students against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Türkiye's Stock Market Hit Hard after Arrest of Istanbul Mayor

Police officers intervene as flames rise from a fire in a dustbin during a protest by students against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
Police officers intervene as flames rise from a fire in a dustbin during a protest by students against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)

The Istanbul stock exchange's main index was hit hard on Friday, closing 7.8 percent down on the third day of protests over the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

The 53-year-old mayor -- Erdogan's main political rival -- was arrested on Wednesday, days before he was due to be named the CHP party's candidate for the 2028 presidential race.

The BIST 100 had already slipped by 8.7 percent on Wednesday following Imamoglu's arrest over allegations of "corruption" and links to a "terrorist organization".

The damage was limited to a fall of 0.5 percent on Thursday, but faced with a sharp fall on Friday, trading was suspended twice in the morning.

The index fell below 9,000 points during Friday trading for the first time since early November, a fall of more than 16.5 percent over five days.

Imamoglu's party has denounced his arrest as a "coup" and international organizations including the European Union have expressed concern.

It has also sparked street protests, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday denounced as "street terror".



Egypt Approves $91 Billion Budget for 2025/26

 The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Egypt Approves $91 Billion Budget for 2025/26

 The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)
The sun rises in Cairo, Egypt March 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Egypt's cabinet approved a 4.6 trillion Egyptian pound ($91 billion) draft state budget for the financial year that will begin in July, a government statement said on Wednesday, as it continues to tighten its finances under an IMF program.

Expenditures will rise by 18% and revenue by 19% over the current 2024/25 budget. Revenue is expected to hit 3.1 trillion pounds, working out to a deficit of about 1.5 trillion pounds ($30 billion).

The increased expenditure partly reflects elevated headline inflation, which was running at an annual 12.8% in February.

Financial reforms under an $8 billion financial reform program signed in March 2024 with the International Monetary Fund have helped Egypt bring inflation down from a peak of 38% in September 2023.

The IMF this month approved the disbursement of $1.2 billion to Egypt after its fourth review of the program.

The new budget targets a primary surplus of 795 billion pounds, equal to 4% of GDP, up from the 3.5% primary surplus originally targeted in the 2024/25 budget.

The IMF granted the government a waiver in the fourth review after the surplus came in 0.5% of GDP lower than Egypt's earlier commitment.

In its third review in June, the IMF praised Egypt for its "strict control of spending".

The new budget also lowers public debt to 82.9% of GDP from an expected 92% in 2024/25, the cabinet statement said.

The cabinet said 732.6 billion pounds in spending in the new budget would be allocated for subsidies, grants and social benefits, an increase of 15.2%.

The budget increases commodities and bread subsidies by 20% to 160 billion pounds. It will also include 75 billion pounds to subsidize petroleum products, 75 billion pounds to subsidize electricity and 3.5 billion pounds to subsidize natural gas deliveries to households, the statement added.