Turkey's net int'l investment position improves in June

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's net international investment position (NIIP) showed a recovery this June, falling 25% compared to end-2020, the Turkish Central Bank said Thursday.

The country's external assets climbed 7.4% to $274.4 billion while its liabilities against non-residents slipped 12.4% to $555 billion in the same period.

"The NIIP, defined as the difference between Turkey’s external assets and liabilities, posted minus $280.6 billion at the end of June 2021, in comparison to minus $378.3 billion at the end of 2020," the bank said in a statement.

Showing a snapshot in time, the NIIP – which can be either positive or negative – is the value of overseas assets owned by a nation, minus the value of domestic assets owned by foreigners, including overseas assets and liabilities held by a nation’s government, the private sector, and its citizens.

Reserve assets climbed 4.7%, hitting $97.7 billion, while other investments rose nearly 11% to $120.1 billion during the same period.

Currency and bank deposits, one of the sub-items of other investments, stood at $52.4 billion at the end of this June, up 24.9% from the end of last year.

On the liabilities side, direct investment – equity capital plus other capital ­ – as of end-June totaled $142.2 billion, down 35.5% from end-2020 "with the contribution of the changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates," it said.

​​​​​​​This January to June, the average US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 7.90, while last year one dollar was exchanged for 7.02 Turkish liras on average.

Central Bank data also showed that banks’ total external loan stock was $72.3 billion, up 1.3% from the end of last year, while other sectors’ total external loan stock stood at $99 billion, up 2.2%.