2.8 Communication Activities

2.8.1 Accountability and Monetary Policy Communication

The CBRT works diligently to guarantee an effective communication strategy to improve the effectiveness of its monetary policy and adhere to the principle of accountability associated with the Bank’s instrumental independence.

Keeping the public informed about monetary policy actions along with the rationale thereof facilitates a better understanding of the policies and is also conducive to a more credible monetary policy and better-anchored expectations.

For the CBRT, accountability means being accountable to the public for its decisions, their consequences and its corporate governance. While maintaining price stability and financial stability, the CBRT also makes efforts to be accessible and understandable by each layer of the society to fulfil its responsibility towards society.

Rules governing the CBRT accountability are stated clearly in Article 42 of the CBRT Law. As required by the principle of accountability, the CBRT continued to publish its analytical balance sheet on its website on a daily basis. The Bank issued a report explaining the results of the independent audits of its balance sheet income expenses statement along with the results of the audits. Similarly, the rationale for CBRT policy decisions and the repercussions of such decisions were also publicly announced through regular reports and presentations.

Under the current monetary policy regime, the CBRT’s main communication documents are MPC announcements and Inflation Reports. Inflation Reports follow a pre-announced calendar and contain information about international economic developments, the course of inflation and supply and demand as well as overall assessments concerning financial markets, financial intermediation and public finance along with medium term inflation forecasts. These reports also included text boxes dealing with current issues concerning the Turkish economy. Inflation Reports of 2019 were presented at press conferences, in which press members, economists and analysts from Turkey and abroad participated, on 30 January and 31 July in Ankara and on 30 April and 31 October in Istanbul. All press conferences were broadcast live on the website and social media accounts of the CBRT.

MPC meetings were held on the scheduled dates specified in the “Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy for 2019”, and the CBRT continued to post on its website the summaries of MPC meetings. Information about the CBRT’s leading activities and about changes in implementation that were of significant concern to the public were disclosed by means of 52 press releases in 2019. The Bank announced its Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy for 2019 on 5 December 2018.

According to a pre-announced schedule, the Bank posted Financial Stability Reports on its website on 31 May and 29 November 2019. In the Financial Stability Reports, the CBRT shared its perspective on the financial system with respect to the recent developments in Turkey and abroad with the public.

To promote better public understanding of monthly inflation developments, the CBRT continued to issue a report on Monthly Price Developments on the first business day following the release of inflation figures.

As a part of direct communication activities, Governor Murat Uysal conducted a series of presentations and speeches in Turkey concerning the CBRT’s policies and practices and current economic developments. Within this context, Governor Uysal gave an interview to the Anadolu Agency and explained the CBRT’s communication policy in the upcoming period. Moreover, to foster communication with the corporate sector and explain the CBRT’s policies to the public, Governor Uysal delivered speeches on “the Economic Outlook and the CBRT’s Studies on the Corporate Sector” at the Assembly Meeting of Ankara Chamber of Industry and “External Balance, Sustainable Growth and Price Stability” at the Assembly Meeting of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry.

UNDER THE CURRENT MONETARY POLICY REGIME, THE CBRT’S MAIN COMMUNICATION DOCUMENTS ARE MPC ANNOUNCEMENTS AND INFLATION REPORTS.

2.8.2 Communication Activities for the General Public

The Bank’s website, its main communication channel, remained in use to meet current technological trends and user demands.

The CBRT continued to use the social media effectively and to enrich the posts with visual content in line with the Social Media Strategy which was updated in 2019. The CBRT’s Twitter account, in particular, was used intensively. As a result, the number of followers of the Turkish Twitter account reached 237,000.

A new version of the mobile application that the CBRT uses to enrich digital communication channels was published on Android and iOS markets in August.

The Virtual Museum was established to make the cultural heritage owned by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey accessible to a broader audience without being confined by the constraints of physical limitations or distance. The Virtual Museum exhibits old and new banknotes, items that illustrate the Bank’s history, and a selection of the Bank’s rich art collection. The Virtual Museum is available in Turkish and English.

In its Flickr account, the CBRT continued to share photographs from events and activities organized by the Bank. In addition, the CBRT published a broad range of video content, be it the Governor’s speeches or Inflation Reports, Financial Stability Reports, the Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy for 2019 and various CBRT events as well as Economics for All videos, through its YouTube channel.

Having been online since December 2016 to help bank professionals share their views with the public, open these views to discussion, and provide timely contributions to the economic agenda, the CBRT corporate blog continued to feature new analyses. Throughout the year, 19 new analyses were published on the blog. The CBRT Blog is located at www.CBRTblog.org and can be followed on Twitter @CBRTBlog.

The CBRT responded to requests for information sent through the Right to Information Unit (BES) established under the Right to Information Act, the Presidential Communication Center (CİMER) and the Bank’s e-mail address, iletisimbilgi@CBRT.gov.tr, which is used for communicating with individuals and institutions outside the Bank. Applications processed duly through the BES totaled 1,616 (854 through e-government), 477 through CİMER, 6 through the Right to Information Unit (BES) of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and 4,683 through the “iletisimbilgi” address.

Applications received via BES, CİMER and iletisimbilgi@CBRT.gov.tr totaled 1,616 (854 through e-government), 2,097 and about 9,010, respectively.

Additionally, loan and deposit rates from banks were compiled by the CBRT and upon request, such banking sector data covering various topics and periods were shared with public institutions, courts, experts and lawyers in attachments of formal correspondence. Meeting these requests led to an intense load of correspondence and spending of labor, and also made judicial processes longer. Accordingly, to grant access to these data by judicial authorities over the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP) without any formal correspondence with the CBRT, integration studies were carried out with the Ministry of Justice and completed with success. Thus, the work load on not only the CBRT, but also the judiciary authorities and all banks was alleviated and judicial processes gained momentum.

IN LINE WITH THE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY, WHICH WAS UPDATED IN 2019, THE CBRT CONTINUED TO HAVE AN ACTIVE PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND ENRICH ITS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS WITH VISUAL CONTENT.

2.8.3 Activities on Financial Education and Economy Education

The CBRT continues with the Economics for All program it started to raise awareness about the importance of price stability and to teach economics to various types of learners. This program features publications, events and similar communication activities for various target groups and aims to enable all target groups to have access to different levels of tools and content published on its own microsite about the importance of price stability, the role of a central bank in the economy, and current economic issues

One of the key parts of this initiative is the Economics for All microsite. Launched on 2018 to explain basic economic concepts, the design of Economics for All microsite was renewed in June. The microsite is a pioneer of its kind in Turkey and offers up-to-date content in various forms such as videos, booklets, infographics and tests on the CBRT’s main functions and basic principles of economics.

Aiming to raise the level of economic literacy, the microsite featured more than 70 posts on basic economic concepts, central banking and current economic developments.

Course plans, infographics, videos, classroom activities and similar educational materials related to the Economics for All program that may benefit pre-school and primary school teachers are published on the CBRT’s website, and the educational informatics network of the Ministry of Education (http://www.eba.gov.tr/eicerik/CBRT).

Under the Economics for All initiative, school visits in Ankara continued. Accordingly, on-site training was offered to about 562 students of one primary school and four secondary schools, which introduced them to concepts such as money, functions of money, inflation, price stability and central banking in an age-appropriate way.

Established as a part of the Economics for All initiative that aimed at reaching out to the public all around Turkey, the “Economics for All in Anatolia” project continued with many events and activities targeting students of primary, secondary and higher-level educational establishments as well as teachers and academics in various provinces. Under the project, events were organized on 19‑22 February 2019 in Eskişehir, on 3 May 2019 in İzmit and on 5‑6 November 2019 in Amasya. As part of our outreach event series, primary, and secondary school teachers participated in Teacher Gatherings. They were informed about the Economics for All program, the CBRT and monetary policy as well as related educational materials that can be used in the classroom. In school visits grades four, seven and eleven were targeted and informative presentations were made to the students. In these seminars, students were informed about money, the CBRT and inflation using age-appropriate presentations, videos, games and contests. Additionally, the Bank conducted University Gatherings for students of Economics and Administrative Sciences in Eskişehir. These events involved presentations by the CBRT directors about central banking and price stability and Q&A sessions. University students showed great interest in these events, which also involved various contests. With these activities, the CBRT reached out to 2,260 participants.

The Bank also continued to organize half-day University Gatherings to inform students of the CBRT’s administrative structure and main functions as well as the job placement process and career opportunities at the CBRT, and facilitate a question/answer interaction between students and Bank employees. Organized in both spring and fall semesters, these events attracted up to 1,500 students from various universities.

THE CBRT CONTINUES WITH THE ECONOMICS FOR ALL PROGRAM IT STARTED TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PRICE STABILITY AND TO TEACH ECONOMICS TO VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS.

2.8.4 Investor Relations

The CBRT continued to organize technical meetings and teleconferences with analysts, strategists, investors, economists and portfolio managers from domestic and foreign investor agencies and Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) at its Head Office. In 57 meetings in 2019, the Bank met with a total of 418 people representing 283 agencies. In the same period, 12 meetings were held with CRAs, three of which were teleconferences.

Table 2.8.4.1: Meetings held in 2019

Apart from these, to meet and make presentations on macroeconomic developments and our monetary policy and bolster bilateral relations with economic and financial attaches of G20 countries operating in Ankara, a meeting was held in February at the CBRT Head Office.

Additionally, informative presentations on investor relations activities at the CBRT were made at the international training event titled “Central Bank Communication: Building Knowledge and Trust in a Changing World” held by ISCB in March (Istanbul School of Central Banking) and also in the international seminar called “Central Banking Seminar on Communication: Enhancing Knowledge and Building Trust” held by the Department of Communications and Foreign Relations in September in Istanbul.

As part of the studies carried out by the Department of Communication and Foreign Relations to measure the perceptions of stakeholders about the CBRT and the monetary policy, analytical studies to measure investor sentiment continued and a variety of training programs and seminars were attended.