Private sector foreign debt slightly falls

ISTANBUL

The long-term foreign debt of Turkey’s private sector decreased by $500 million in January to $155.9 billion, the Central Bank said on March 17.

The private sector´s short-term foreign debt also decreased by $1.3 billion to $39.9 billion in January 2014 the bank added.

Data released by the bank indicates half of the debt was in dollars with 37.7 percent in Euro and the remaining 11.6 percent in the Turkish Lira.

Concerning rise

The private sector’s debt has been a huge source of concern, but especially the weakening of the lira against the U.S. dollar and the euro left the country particularly fragile against capital outflow shocks, raising risks of economic stability.

However, in 2013 Turkey’s private sector foreign debt increased by 12.3 percent to $155.6 billion from $138.5 billion in 2012 and the country’s short-term private sector foreign
debt increased by 33 percent in 2013 to $41.2 billion from $31 billion in 2012.