Quite a contrast with Brits moving to Turkey, many of whom seem enthusiastic about plunging their £s into TL account to get their hands on the "large" interest rates - although not so large when you take inflation into account.
Yeah, this is an oft debated topic up north in the 'Bul.
A good few of our friends have been there a long time, from way before the mass exodus from the UK and Scandinavian countries to buy up Mugla, Aydin and Antalya. They can remember, as can my missus, when a loaf could double in price between asking for it and paying for it. This historical distrust, along with the Turks natural distrust, of the lira has been tempered
slightly over the past few years when there was a certain stability in the economy (and of course, the lira).
However, this has not been sufficient for them to plunge large volumes of hard currency into high interest lira accounts - that's not to say no-one does, just that they are careful with their exposure. No one I know has had any serious amount of money in lira for nearly a year (some might, but they ain't admitting it!). They also simply cant understand the logic whereby someone sells up in the UK, puts significant wedge into high interest lira account then lives off the interest (supplemented possibly by UK pension) - and to be honest, I don't either. When you factor in inflation, especially in some significant sectors, the net gain after tax isn't quite so attractive.
JF
