Turkish private sector's external debt at $162B in July

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Turkish private sector’s outstanding foreign loans totaled $162 billion as of July, down $7 billion from the end of last year, the Central Bank said on Thursday.

Short-term loans, excluding trade credits, received from abroad totaled $7.6 billion, a jump of $85 million over the same period.

Liabilities of financial institutions made up 79.9% of all short-term loans, the bank said.

Broken down by currency, 41.7% of the Turkish private sector’s short-term credit was in US dollars, 37.3% in euros, 17.5% in Turkish liras, and 3.5% in other currencies.

The private sector’s long-term foreign debt fell $7.1 billion to $154.5 billion over the same period.

Most of the long-term loans – 65% – were in US dollars, followed by 31.6% in euros, 1.5% in Turkish liras, and 1.9% in other currencies.

The private sector’s total outstanding loans received from abroad, based on a remaining maturity basis, point to principal repayments of $44.2 billion for the next 12 months by the end of July, the bank said.