On Friday, the Turkish lira suffered another spell of weakness.

Only intervention by the central bank prevented more than 14 lira from having to be paid for one dollar.

But despite the currency and economic crisis, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is firmly sticking to the course of low interest rates: “I believe that we will reverse these attacks on the currency.

As I always say: God willing, this too will pass us by.

Everyone should know that. ”The fact that he found it necessary to warn his compatriots against buying hamsters in view of the officially measured 27 percent inflation on food, and threatened with severe penalties, says more about the mood in the country than the pro-government press reflects.

Andreas Mihm

Business correspondent for Austria, East-Central and Southeastern Europe and Turkey based in Vienna.

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In addition to divine support, threats and interventions on the foreign exchange market, Erdoğan is relying on help from the Islamic neighborhood, as his travel activities over the past few weeks show.

Only with the EU will the climate stay cool.

Its importance as a trading partner for the country on the Bosporus is shrinking.

China, on the other hand, is on the rise.

Erdoğan wants to promote the export economy.

It provides employment and foreign exchange income.

The country needs them to pay for oil and gas and to be able to repay loans denominated in dollars and euros.

Especially in times when the lira has lost more than a third of its value within three months.

Germany remains important for Turkey

So this week he visited Qatar, an ally and major investor. The central bank in the emirate of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thanis extended its loan of 15 billion dollars by three years. Erdoğan also came back from the Gulf with further trade and investment promises. With the United Arab Emirates, with which the relationship was long considered hostile, he had signed an investment agreement for 10 billion dollars in November. It should set an example for countries with which Turkey is still in conflict, such as Israel and Egypt, said Erdoğan on the return flight from Turkmenistan.

There, at the end of November, he called on the ten Central Asian states united in the ECOTA trade union to “make better use of the great potential of our geographic location with around 500 million inhabitants on an area of ​​eight million square kilometers”. The group wants to secure free trade among each other by 2025, but has not achieved much in the 18 years since it was founded. The EU membership negotiated since 2005 has also not turned into anything. One cannot even agree on new customs agreements. The share of the EU in Turkish foreign trade is falling.

There is a ray of hope in the textile industry.

"Because of growing problems in the supply chain and rising costs for freight and logistics, more and more European companies are looking around Turkey," says Mustafa giltepe from the Association of Istanbul Clothing Exporters.

Textile exports to the EU will surpass the 2014 high of $ 18.7 billion.

“We get a lot of orders.

The ready-to-wear sector is set to break a record this year with exports of more than $ 20 billion, ”says giltepe.

For the next year he is aiming for $ 23.5 billion.