www.zerohedge.com By Tyler Durden
In a world where central banks now openly engage in helicopter money paradrops and monetizing debt and deficits as far as the eye can see (knowing well that such actions always end in hyperinflationary tears but plowing on nonetheless), i.e., funding their respective governments, the literal printing of money by central banks to fill Treasury coffers is not nearly as exciting as it used to be. However, one place where money transfers from the central bank to the government (which in this particular case is represented by just one particular kleptocrat) are those in Turkey due to the absolute banana republic nature of the country, and which is closer than any other semi-developed nation to sliding into the hyperinflationary abyss; as such as all of its bizarre actions are scrutinized by a small group of fascinated onlookers who then try to extrapolate the Turkish experience to every other insolvent nation.
Well, speaking of bizarre actions, an especially egregious one took place on the final day of 20021, when Turkey’s central bank posted an extraordinary and unexplained daily profit of around $10 billion, sparking questions on what caused this overnight boon that will trickle down to the nation’s Treasury.
According to Bloomberg, the monetary authority disclosed an annual loss of around 70 billion liras ($5.2 billion) on Dec. 30 but just one day later, ended the year with 60 billion liras of profit, an unprecedented change of fortunes in a single day, according to its daily balance sheet. In February, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance — as the central bank’s biggest stakeholder — will begin collecting much of that sum as dividends. The biggest winner? Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself – after all he is the de facto government of Turkey – because in February, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance both of which are populated with Erdogan cronies and are the central bank’s biggest stakeholders, will begin collecting much of that sum as dividends.
