By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish banks posted a net profit of 252 billion Turkish liras ($13.9 billion) in August, fivefold on a lira basis compared to a year ago, according to data from the country’s banking watchdog on Thursday.
Total assets of the Turkish banking sector amounted to 12.7 trillion Turkish liras ($700.7 billion) last month, rising from 6.9 trillion Turkish liras ($819.3 billion) in August 2021, according to data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.
Loans, the largest sub-category of assets, reached 6.7 trillion Turkish liras ($367.6 billion), while it was 3.9 trillion Turkish liras ($471.2 billion) a year ago.
On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Türkiye – the largest liabilities item – totaled 7.74 trillion Turkish liras ($427.2 billion), up from 3.9 trillion Turkish liras ($471.6 billion) in August last year.
The sector’s regulatory capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio – the higher the better – stood at 18.69% at the end of last month, up from 17.26% in August 2021.
The ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans – the lower the better – was 2.38%, down from 3.67% a year ago.
As of end-August, a total of 55 state/private/foreign lenders – including deposit banks, participation banks, and development and investment banks – were operating in Türkiye.
The sector had over 204,500 employees working at some 11,100 branches both in Türkiye and abroad, along with nearly 49,000 ATMs.