Reducing debt top priority for Turks: Survey

ISTANBUL

REUTERS photo

Turkish people have ranked debt reduction as their main financial target among a list of resolutions for 2016 according to a new survey done in 15 Western countries.  

While 36 percent of the Turkish participants said their top priority is to reduce their debts in the forthcoming year, some 31 percent said they want to save more money, according to a survey by ING Bank, which had 14,837 participants from 13 European countries, the United States and Australia. 

For Europeans, the main priority was to save more, with approximately 41 percent saying they wanted to save more next year. However, only 27 percent of Europeans saw debt reduction as a top priority. Debt reduction is slightly more important than saving for people in Poland as well as in Turkey, where nearly one third also have better money management as a top goal.

Italians care most about saving money, at 56 percent, followed by British people with 53 percent, according to the study. 

Money resolutions are most popular in Turkey, where 86 percent of people polled said they will mark 2016 with new financial goals. The Netherlands takes the number-two spot, with 82 percent of resolution-makers planning to focus on financial matters in January 2016. People in Spain, however, appear least likely to opt for a finance-based resolution for 2016.

More than seven out of 10 people in Europe who plan to make New Year resolutions for 2016 will include a financial goal, survey results showed.

In terms of achieving 2015 financial goals, Turkish people ranked worst across all countries, according to the study. About 52 percent of people in Europe say they managed to keep their financial New Year resolutions made in 2015, while 48 percent admit they did not. The percent of Turkish people who said they were unsuccessful in reaching their 2015 goals was 43 percent. The most successful participants in this area were German people and Austrians at 68 percent each, according to the survey.