Sovereign wealth fund

The Turkish Government, in an unprecedented decree, announced the transfer of its most valuable financial and real assets into a wealth fund on Jan. 5. For any ordinary Turkish citizen, the "transfer of assets into a fund" sounds a bit shady.

The government has transferred the public stakes in a number of major public companies to a recently established sovereign wealth fund, stating that the aim was to secure credit at lower rates for big projects by using the shares in these valuable companies as collateral.