Turkey will reintroduce a 0.1% tax on some foreign-currency transactions in a move that will increase budget revenue but risks raising concern that the government is taking on a larger role in managing the market. The levy, kept at zero for over a decade, will be introduced on foreign-currency sellers, according to a presidential decision published on Wednesday in the Official Gazette. The average trading volume in the local foreign-exchange spot market was $3.6 billion in April, according to central bank data. The goal of the tax change is to prevent speculation in foreign exchange and bolster tax income, the state-run Anadolu agency reported, citing Treasury officials it didn’t name. Exemptions from the tax include sales to Turkey’s Treasury as well as transactions between banks or authorized institutions and sales by banks to a borrower related to repayment of foreign-currency loans.

Source: Mint May 16, 2019 10:18 UTC