Applications of “Under the Pillow” Gold in Turkey
Server Demirci, Selahattin Güriş, Levent Çinko, Turgut Ün, Şaban KızılarslanAccording to some estimates, the amount of “gold beneath the pillow” in Turkey is between 3–5 tons and is valued at 200–300 billion dollars. The coronavirus disease-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020 and had world-wide impacts, has left the country’s economies in a very dire situation. As in the rest of the world, the Turkish economy has slowed down and is on the verge of collapse. “Under the pillow” gold may breathe new life into this sluggish economy. This study aims to discover ways of incorporate “under the pillow” gold in the Turkish economy. Considering this situation, a survey including gold banking was conducted. The province of Istanbul was selected as the primary study population and face-to-face interviews were conducted. A total of 1,002 individuals participated in the survey through the random sampling method. The content of the questions includes basic information such as age, gender, and marital and educational status. As open-ended questions, monthly average income and monthly average savings were enquired. The following are the question categories that include gold banking: It consisted of 8 yes-no and 26 5-point Likert scale questions. Factor analysis was applied to the data obtained from the questions. The Gompit Regression Model was estimated for the factors acquired from the abovementioned analysis, and the results of the analysis showed that there was no awareness regarding the gold banking system and a lack of trust in the banks.
Türkiye’de “Yastık Altı” Altın: Bir Uygulama
Server Demirci, Selahattin Güriş, Levent Çinko, Turgut Ün, Şaban KızılarslanTürkiye’de yastık altı altın kimi hesaplamalara göre 3-5 ton arasında olup değeri de 200-300 milyar doları bulmaktadır. 2020 yılı başlarında ortaya çıkan ve tüm dünyayı etkisi altına alan COVID-19 pandemi süreci ülke ekonomilerini çok zora sokmuştur. Tüm dünyada olduğu gibi Türkiye’de de ekonomi yavaşlamış ve daralmıştır. Yastık altı altın yavaşlayan ekonomiye bir nebze de olsa canlılık kazandırır. Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’de yastık altı altının ekonomiye kazandırma yollarını araştırmaktır. Bu doğrultuda altın bankacılığını da içeren anket uygulanmıştır. Anakütle olarak İstanbul ili seçilmiş olup yüz yüze görüşme yapılmıştır. Tesadüfi örnekleme yöntemi ile elde edilen örneklemde toplam 1002 kişi ankete katılım sağlamıştır. Soruların içeriğinde yaş, cinsiyet, medeni durum, öğrenim durumu gibi temel sorular yatmaktadır. Açık uçlu olarak da aylık ortalama gelir ve aylık ortalama tasarruf soruları sorulmuştur. Altın bankacılığı içeren soru tipleri ise; 8 adet evet-hayır ve 26 adet 5’li Likert ölçeği sorularından oluşmaktadır. Sorular neticesinde elde edilen verilere Faktör Analizi uygulanmıştır. Söz konusu uygulama sonrasında elde edilen faktörler kullanılarak Gompit Regresyon Modeli tahmin edilmiş olup, analiz ile birlikte altın bankacılığı sistemini bilgi sahibi olunmadığı ve bankalara olan güven duygusunun eksikliği sonuçları ortaya çıkmıştır.
Turkish society is one of the few in the world that has traditionally used gold as a form of saving and investment. In general, Turkish people acquire gold for marriage, to buy a house, and for the future saving for themselves or their offspring. This gold is typically stored in their houses. “Gold under the Pillow” is gold that is not in any financial system but is held in various locations. In Turkey, there is approximately 3–5 tons of gold that is not involved in the financial system and is so-called “under the pillow.” The gold in question is worth between 200–300 billion dollars. The coronavirus disease-19 pandemic has hampered economies world-wide, including Turkey. The Turkish economy will recover if the gold financial system, which is hidden beneath the aforementioned pillow, is incorporated.
Concurrent with the advancements in the banking system, the integration of various investment instruments into the banking system has also improved. In this regard, a similar situation was observed with gold, which is one of the most important investment and saving tools. Although the relationship between gold and the bank has a long history, the gold banking system has become more comprehensive as a result of technological and systematic advancements in the banking system. Therefore, the idea of banks to assess individual gold saving has continued to gain interest. However, despite this interest in banks, an individual’s interest in gold banking is not at the desired level.
In this study, the individual’s awareness regarding gold banking and their choice to utilize the gold banking system were investigated. The study aims to discover the factors that influence the decisions of individuals on whether or not to utilize the gold banking system. Thus, individual data within the Istanbul area were obtained via questionnaires and were examined. The findings highlight the fact that most participants have yet to use the gold banking system. To analyze the reasons for this situation, factor analysis was used and the main factors were identified. Next, considering the asymmetrical distribution in the use of gold banking, the Gompit Model, one of the qualitative preference models, was calculated and the main factors that influence the decisions of individuals about gold banking were discovered. According to the results, the primary reason why individuals do not utilize gold banking is a lack of knowledge about the system. Most participants claimed that they might utilize the system to get educated about the gold banking system. Another critical aspect is the distrust in banks and the reliability of keeping gold under the pillow. It was noted that individuals who regard gold as an investment or security were more likely to utilize the gold banking system. Another promising point is that the systems returns are higher. It has been determined that individuals may be more willing to use the system if gold banking provides more profits. Furthermore, it was discovered that individuals with larger savings are more inclined to use the gold banking system.
Based on the result, it can be concluded that the essential policies to be implemented to incorporate the “under the pillow” gold in the system should focus on better educating individuals and developing their confidence in banks. Individuals who wish to use gold as a means of investment and savings will include their gold in the system, and the gold “under the pillow” will be included into the economy, if they have an adequate understanding of gold banking and do not have a negative attitude toward banks.
