Turkish private sector foreign debt falls

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish private sector’s outstanding loans received from abroad decreased this October from the end of December 2017, the country's Central Bank announced Friday.

The sector's long-term debts reached $213 billion as of October, down $9.1 billion from the end of last year, the Turkish Central Bank said in a statement.

The bank also said the sector's short-term loans -- debt that must be paid in the next 12 months -- fell $2.7 billion to $15.9 billion during the same period.

"As for the sectoral breakdown by the end of October, of the total long-term loans in the amount of $213.0 billion, 48.3 percent consist of liabilities of the financial institutions, whereas 51.7 percent consists of the liabilities of the non-financial institutions," the statement said.

Nearly 60 percent of Turkey's private sector long-term debt was in U.S. dollars, with 34.7 percent in euros, 3.8 percent in Turkish liras, and 1.6 percent in other currencies.