Foreign loan burden on Turkish private sector eases

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish private sector’s outstanding loans from abroad fell further in April compared to the end of last year, the country's Central Bank announced on Wednesday.

Long-term debts hit $173.6 billion as of April, falling $7.4 billion from end-2019, with 41.9% held by financial institutions.

Some 62% of Turkish private sector long-term debt was in US dollars, 33.5% in euros, 2.8% in Turkish liras, and 1.7% in other currencies.

The private sector's short-term loans – debt that must be paid in the next 12 months – also fell $895 million to $8.1 billion in the same period.

Financial institutions held 76% of the short-term loans, while 24% consisted of liabilities of non-financial institutions.

“Regarding the currency composition of the total short-term loans, 38.8% consists of US dollars, 34.3% consists of euros, 25.6% consists of Turkish liras, and 1.3% consists of other currencies,” the Central Bank said.