Eastern Turkish provinces lead in cash credit debts

ISTANBUL

Bitlis ranked seven in debts with cash credit to savings ratio at 224 percent. AA photo

Turkey’s eastern provinces have outpaced their counterparts in being in debt, according to an official ranking that shows only four Turkish cities have a surplus in economy rather than debt.

All seven of the most indebted Turkish cities in 2013 are located in the eastern or southern regions of the country, while the eastern province Siirt has emerged having the highest amount of debt with the highest cash credit to savings ratio at 343.04 percent.

Despite all measures taken to raise the savings of local governments, the results show Siirt spends 3.5 Turkish Liras for every lira it makes.

The trade and commerce center of southeastern Turkey, Gaziantep, ranked second in the list with 321.35 debt to saving ratio, followed by Şanlıurfa, Osmaniye, Mardin, Kahramanmaraş and Bitlis.
In total, the 14 provinces’ debts constitutes more than double of their savings.

The figures also revealed only four Turkish cities, capital Ankara, Uşak, Aksaray and Tunceli, have less debt than their savings.

Tunceli has become the top-performing city in balancing its indebtedness with a cash loan to savings ratio at 75.34 percent. The southern province is followed by Ankara with 84.30 percent.

The number of provinces with less debt than savings has been witnessing a gradual decline over the past two years, ringing alarm bells for the local government finances.

There were seven provinces with less debt than savings in 2012, while the number was 12 in 2011.
Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, has slipped to rank among “indebted cities” in 2013 with 103.42 percent after recording higher savings than its income for 2011 and 2012.