Turks put money in short-term deposits

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkish investors prefer to put their savings, be it Turkish Liras or foreign exchange, in short-term deposits, usually for three months, according to data published by Turkey’s Central Bank.

Deposits with maturity periods of a maximum of three months have increased by 256 percent to 256.1 billion liras at the end of October, compared to the beginning of January 2006, Central Bank figures show. The increase has been 76 percent since the beginning of the global financial crisis in September 2008, when the volume of such deposits was 145.5 billion liras. This kind of deposit has increased from 112.8 billion liras volume in mid-December 2010.

Current deposits grew 155 percent to 64.5 billion liras, whereas deposits with maturity of up to six months grew 169.8 percent to 40.4 billion liras since January 2006. Deposits with maturity of one year or longer also increased at a rate of 96.1 percent to 15.6 billion liras for the same period.

Short maturities of a maximum of three months were also preferred for deposits in foreign exchange during the past six years. The volume of such deposits increased by 259.1 percent to an amount worth 96.8 billion liras in the period between January 2006 and October this year.

Current deposits in foreign exchange also increased by 134.4 percent to 44.1 billion liras. Time deposits with one-month maturity grew 69.7 percent, those with maturity up to six months by 63.7 percent and those with maturity up to one year or longer by 163.8 percent during the same period.