Turkey: Short-term external debt stock reaches $118.7B

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's short-term external debt stock amounted to $118.7 billion as of the end of March, official data showed on Thursday.

The country's external debt stock -- maturing within one year or less -- dropped by 4% in March versus the end of 2019, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT).

Official data revealed that the currency breakdown of the debt stock was composed of 48.7% US dollars, 29.8% euros, 13.9% Turkish liras and 7.6% other currencies.

Banks' short-term external debt stock posted a decrease of 4.2% to $53.8 billion and other sectors' short-term external debt stock down by 4.2% to $56.6 billion during the same period.

The rest of the amount -- some $8.3 billion -- belonged to the CBRT.

"From the borrowers' side, the short-term debt of public sector, which consists of public banks, increased by 3.4% to $25.9 billion.''

"And the short-term debt of private sector decreased by 6.3% to $84.5 billion compared to the end of 2019," the bank said.

Short-term foreign exchange (FX) loans the banks received from foreign countries fell by 12.7% to $6.8 billion, the data showed.

Foreign exchange deposits of non-residents -- except in the banking sector -- in resident banks was unchanged in March versus the end of 2018, recording $21.1 billion.

"And FX deposits of non-resident banks recorded $11.3 billion decreasing by 17.5%," it added.

The CBRT also noted that non-residents' Turkish lira deposits decreased by 7.4% and was recorded as $14.6 billion in the same period.