Local firms’ foreign assets stand at $118 billion

ANKARA

The foreign assets of Turkish non-financial companies decreased by $381 million compared to December 2018 to stand at $118.2 billion as of January, Central Bank data showed on April 1.

The foreign liabilities of non-financial companies declined by $4.3 billion to $312.7 billion.

Consequently, net foreign exchange deficit recorded $194.5 billion, indicating a decrease of $3.9 billion compared to December 2018, the Central Bank said.

On the asset side, deposits held by domestic banks and direct investments abroad increased by $298 million and $137 million respectively, export receivables decreased by $837 million, indicating a decrease of $381 million in assets.

On the liability side, domestic loans and external loans (excluding trade credits) decreased by $4.3 billion and $194 million respectively, while import payables increased by $232 million compared to December 2018. Accordingly, liabilities recorded a decrease of $4.3 billion.

The Central Bank also reported that short-term domestic loans decreased by $620 million in January, while long-term domestic loans fell by $3.7 billion compared to December 2018.

Short-term external loans declined by $532 million but long-term external loans increased by $572 million.

According to the data, short-term assets and short-term liabilities stood at $94.2 billion and $89.1 billion, resulting into a short-term foreign exchange surplus of $5.04 billion in January, up from the surplus of $4.4 billion in December 2018.