By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA (AA) - Turkish banking sector's net profit totaled some 12.35 billion Turkish liras ($2.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2019, the country's banking watchdog reported Tuesday.
According to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, total assets of the sector rose by 22.6% on a yearly basis to reach 4.14 trillion liras ($740 billion).
Amounting to some 2.52 trillion liras ($450 billion), loans -- the biggest sub-category of assets -- surged 14.6% year-on-year.
On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Turkey were 2.21 trillion Turkish liras ($395 billion) in the three-month period, marking an annual hike of 24.2%.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira (USD/TRY) exchange rate was around 5.55 at the end of March this year, versus 4.00 at the end of the same month in 2018.