S&P revises Turkey's outlook to 'negative'

S&P Global Ratings on Friday revised its outlook on Turkey to "negative" from "stable" , citing the country's vulnerabilities due to low policy rates, managed lending and regulatory controls on its foreign currency positions and interest rates.

Turkey continues to struggle with rising prices for goods and services. And a devastating earthquake that rocked the country in early February is expected to push inflation higher ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.

Turkey's central bank cut its key interest rate to 8.5% on Feb. 23 to cushion the impact of the earthquake on the country's economy.

"Given Turkey's large current account deficits, limited usable reserves, high inflation and reliance on occasional capital inflows, the outlook for the exchange rate remains uncertain at best," S&P said in a statement.

The rating agency maintained the country's credit rating at 'B."