Erdogan orders ministers not to receive financial advice from US firm

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered his ministers not to receive any financial advice from the American consulting firm McKinsey, as his country is in an “economic war” with the United States.
The president told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Saturday that he called on the ministers that instead of receiving financial advice from McKinsey & Company, they should rely on domestic capabilities.
It was recently reported that Ankara was seeking advice from the New York-based global management consultancy firm to resolve economic hardships as inflation has recently been hiking with Turkish national currency lira, losing almost 40 percent of its value against dollar since the start of this year.
The move has sparked harsh criticism from members of the opposition parties, who accused Ankara of handing over the country’s economic secrets to the firm.
Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is also Erdogan’s son-in-law, however, said on Thursday that the government had decided to work with the private company, but McKinsey will have no executive powers. He also said that working with consultancy firms was totally normal.
During the Saturday meeting with the AK party, Erdogan also said that the country is not plagued with financial crisis and that this is “opportunists” who use volatility in the foreign exchange rate to raise prices.
“There is no economic crisis, only manipulative moves. We will achieve our country’s goals with our own solutions and our own programs,” said the president, adding that Turkey has “not asked any country for money, but open to all forms of investments and support.”
“We will not abandon our people to the mercy of opportunists,” he told the party members.
Soaring inflation and national currency fall in Turkey coincided with widening rift between Ankara and Washington over the imprisonment of American pastor Andrew Brunson.
Erdogan said last month that Washington has launched an “economic war” against Ankara which “is no different from a direct strike against our flag.” He also called also on consumers to boycott American products.
The US has imposed sanctions on Turkish ministers, and doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on NATO ally. Turkey has also retaliated by raising tariffs on certain US imports.