Turkey: Group building massive airport gets extra US$1.2b loan

The consortium formed to build one of the world’s biggest airports in Turkey secured an additional E1b loan to help complete the first phase, according to four people with knowledge of the plan. The five-member group of local contractors agreed to the extra facility with domestic lenders already involved in the project, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is still confidential. The banks, which had initially provided a 16-year loan in 2015 of E4.5b euros, will allocate the debt in proportion to their existing exposure, the people said. The extended facility comes after an emergency rate hike by the central bank on Wednesday aimed at stemming a slide in the lira that is threatening to undermine the nation’s banking industry. The government was considering giving the consortium, known as IGA Havalimani Isletmesi AS, an unspecified amount of time before requiring it to start paying rent, set at more than $1b annually for 25 years, Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said last month. <br/>