Turkey's net int'l investment position recovers in August

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkey's net international investment position (NIIP) showed a recovery in August, falling 10% compared to 2018-end, the Turkish Central Bank said on Oct. 18.

The country's external assets rose 7% to $245.3 billion while its liabilities against non-residents fell 4% to $577.5 billion during the same period.

"The NIIP, defined as the difference between Turkey’s external assets and liabilities, posted minus $332.2 billion at the end of August 2019, in comparison to minus $371.0 billion observed at the end of 2018," the bank said in a statement.

Showing a snapshot in time, the NIIP -- which can be either positive or negative -- is the value of overseas assets owned by a nation, minus the value of domestic assets owned by foreigners, including overseas assets and liabilities held by a nation’s government, the private sector, and its citizens.

Reserve assets saw an increase of 9% to hit $101.6 billion, while other investments rose nearly 6% to $93.8 billion during the same period.

Currency and bank deposits, one of the sub-items of other investments, stood at $49.4 billion at the end of this August.

On the liabilities side, direct investment -- equity capital plus other capital -- as of July-end amounted to $137.6 billion, marking a decrease of 7% from the end of last year "with the contribution of the changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates," it said.

In January to August this year, the average U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 5.63, while last year one dollar was exchanged for 4.42 Turkish liras on average.

Central Bank data also showed that total external loan stock of the banks was $72.1 billion, down 12% from the end of 2018, while total external loan stock of the other sectors stood at $101.1 billion, down 5%.