More than 100,000 people have been sacked or suspended in the civil service and the private sector since the July 15 abortive putsch. "Political and security developments have undermined economic performance and institutional independence," Fitch said in its statement. It lowered its rating to BB+ from BBB-, the latter being its lowest investment-grade rating.Last year, S&P cut Turkey's rating further into junk territory. "Talk about kicking someone when they are down, S&P changes BB outlook to negative. "We are revising our outlook to negative to reflect what we consider to be rising constraints on policymakers' ability to tame inflationary and currency pressures," S&P said in its statement.

Source: The Star January 28, 2017 00:51 UTC