Turkey’s economy may be battered by soaring inflation and a currency crisis, but Buffett disciple and veteran investor Mohnish Pabrai says he’s interested in the market. Pabrai, who is managing partner of Pabrai Investment Funds, said Turkey is “probably the cheapest market in the world.” But opportunities are being overlooked because of economic turmoil in the country, he said. “The baby got thrown out with the bathwater, so no one’s interested in Turkey,” he told CNBC Pro Talks last week. “But I’m interested and I think we’ll do really well on our Turkish bets and when I look at the U.S., even with all the correction … everything that’s taken place, I don’t find much to get excited about,” Pabrai said. Turkey’s economy is under severe stress as inflation has been spiraling. Consumer prices soared 73.5% in May , compared with the year before. Despite those economic headwinds, Turkish markets have performed significantly better than other emerging markets. The MSCI Turkey index jumped over 12% as at the end of May, compared with the MSCI Emerging Markets index, which declined more than 11%. Turkish stocks are a lot cheaper than those of U.S. companies. The price-to-earnings ratio for stocks under the MSCI Turkey index was over six times as at May 31 — a metric which compares the current share price with the company’s earnings per share . In comparison, the S & P 500 index was trading at about 20 times earnings as at June 1. “If I were an investor … the area I would focus on the most and which I have been focusing on … is a place like Turkey,” he said. The value investor acknowledged that the country faces a lot of macro headwinds. But he pointed out one unique aspect about businesses operating in Turkey. “There are businesses in Turkey where the revenues are 100% in euro and the expenses are all in lira, which is collapsing as we speak,” he said. “And in that scenario, business revenues in euros and expenses in lira does extremely well,” Pabrai said. Turkey’s lira lost more than 40% of its value against the dollar in 2021 because of unconventional economic policies pursued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who refused to raise interest rates despite rising inflation. This year, Turkey pumped in billions of dollars to steady the currency, but the slide resumed last week.
