Turkey's Central Bank posts $10.7B net profit in 2018

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) on Saturday announced it posted a net profit of nearly 56.3 billion Turkish liras ($10.7 billion) in 2018.

The bank's net profit surged over 200 percent year-on-year, up from some 18.4 billion liras ($4.8 billion) in 2017.

According to the CBRT's 87th accounting period balance sheet, the bank's assets totaled 721.5 billion liras ($137.2 billion), rising 13.2 percent on a yearly basis.

Gold assets in international standard amounted to 488.5 tons, worth 105.9 billion liras ($20.1 billion) as of Dec. 31, 2018.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.26 at the end of last year, versus 3.80 at the end of 2017.

Last month, the bank held an Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting to distribute 33.7 billion lira ($6.3 billion) advance dividend to shareholders.

The CBRT's General Assembly meeting is normally held in April, as the meeting was held in January to provide liquidity for the market earlier.