Turkey’s Ziraat Bank lowers housing loan interest rate to 0.98 percent

ISTANBUL

Turkish state-run Ziraat Bank has lowered its interest rate for housing loans with a maximum maturity of 10 years and an amount up to 500,000 Turkish liras ($117,000) to 0.98 percent monthly effective as of May 11, it said on May 10.

The move comes after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his economic team advised banks to ease real estate borrowing in a meeting on May 9.

According to Ziraat’s website, the monthly rate currently stands at 1.23 percent.

Following Ziraat’s announcement, Halkbank said that it would also cut the rates to 0.98 percent.

Speaking at the 61st General Board Meeting of the Turkish Banks’ Association (TBB) on May 7, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said a campaign would be kicked off led by Ziraat Bank to offer housing loans for much lower interest rates.

“In order to diminish the housing stock, Ziraat and other lenders will soon announce loan campaigns that will be attractive for potential buyers,” Yıldırım said, adding that the details would be announced later.

According to sector representatives, housing loan rates have recently increased to their highest level in the last 8.5 years.