Private sector foreign debt on the rise in Turkey
ANKARA - Anadolu Agency
The short-term foreign debt held by the Turkish private sector rose by $401 million as of the end of March compared to the end of 2017, the Central Bank announced on May 17.
The sector’s short-term loans - debt that must be paid in the next 12 months - reached $18.6 billion as of March, the Central Bank said in a statement.
The sector’s long-term foreign debt also increased by $5.5 billion to $226.8 billion during the same period, the Bank said.
“Of the total long-term loans, which amount to $226.8 billion, 50.7 percent consists of financial institutions’ liabilities, while 49.3 percent consists of the liabilities of non-financial institutions,” it said.
The Central Bank also stated that the liabilities of financial institutions and non-financial institutions accounted for 78.1 percent and 21.9 percent of the private sector’s short-term foreign debt respectively.
“From the borrower’s side, regarding long-term loans, banks’ loan liabilities decreased by $98 million while bond liabilities amounted to $31.8 billion, increasing by $1.5 billion compared to the end of 2017,” it added.
Nearly 60 percent of Turkey’s private sector long-term debt is held in U.S. dollars, 34.9 percent is held in euros, 4.6 percent is held in Turkish Liras, and 1.7 percent is held in other currencies.
Almost half (49.7 percent) of the short-term debt is held in U.S. dollars, followed by 29.3 percent held in euros, 20.6 percent held in liras, and 0.4 percent in other currencies.
