Türkiye’s short-term external debt falls to $172.7B in March

By Mucahithan Avicoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye's short-term external debt was down to $172.7 billion at the end of March, the Turkish Central Bank said on Tuesday.

The figure fell by 0.2% or $338 million from the previous month's $173.2 billion.

The banks’ short-term external debt rose 0.5% to $77.8 billion and the short-term external debt of other sectors climbed 1% to $64.8 billion over the same period.

The short-term foreign exchange (FX) loans Turkish banks took from abroad declined 3.5% to $18.6 billion, while foreign exchange deposits of non-residents in resident banks rose 1.1% to $18.5 billion.

"FX deposits of non-residents (excluding banking sector) recorded $19.5 billion increasing by 3.5%," the central bank said in a statement.

"In addition, non-residents’ Turkish lira deposits increased by 0.9% and recorded $21.3 billion," it added.

The trade credit liabilities linked to foreign trade transactions increased 1.5% to $60.7 billion in March, while liabilities arising from cash loans dropped by 6.9% to $4.1 billion, the data showed.

The currency breakdown of the debt stock was 35% in US dollars, 26% in euros, 24% in Turkish liras, and 15% in other currencies.

On a remaining maturity basis, including external debt within one year, Türkiye’s short-term external debt stock at the end of March totaled $224.8 billion.