Some 18,000 Turks become millionaires as lira slid to record lows
ANKARA
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, Istanbul, Turkey. (File photo by Serkan Türk)
The number of Turkish millionaires has increased from 138,980 to 156,866 in the past five months as the Turkish Lira was battered to record lows, according to Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) data compiled by state-run Anadolu Agency.
Turkish millionaires, who live in Turkey or abroad, hold a total of 1 trillion 37 billion and 152 million liras. On average, a Turkish millionaire has more than 6 million liras.
This year’s figure corresponds to a 127,173,000-lira rise on a year-on-year basis.
Some 141,753 Turkish millionaires are based in Turkey, while 15,113 of them are based abroad.
Millionaires in Turkey hold some 441 billion liras in the Turkish Lira, as well as the equivalent of 493 billion liras in the foreign currency.
Turkish millionaires abroad, on the other hand, have some 8 billion liras in the Turkish Lira and more than 89 billion liras in foreign currency.
Annual inflation in Turkey surged to over 15 percent in June for the first time in almost one-and-a-half decades, according to official data released on July 3.
The data added further pressure on the lira, which has lost nearly 20 percent in value against the dollar this year.
The Turkish Central Bank has raised its main policy rates by 500 basis points since April in an effort to arrest the fall in the lira this year.
