By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish banks posted a net profit of 39.3 billion Turkish liras ($2.1 billion) in January, nearly double in lira terms compared to a year ago, the country’s banking watchdog reported on Wednesday.
Total assets of the Turkish banking sector amounted to 14.7 trillion Turkish liras ($782.5 billion) in January, up from 9.22 trillion Turkish liras ($689.2 billion) in the same month last year, according to data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.
Loans, the largest sub-category of assets, reached 7.9 trillion Turkish liras ($418.2 billion), increasing from 4.96 trillion Turkish liras ($371.3 billion) in January 2022.
On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Türkiye – the largest liabilities item – totaled 9.2 trillion Turkish liras ($487.4 billion), up from 5.38 trillion Turkish liras ($402.37 billion) a year ago.
The sector’s regulatory capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio – the higher the better – stood at 16.99% at the end of January, slipping from 18.53% in January 2022.
The ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans – the lower the better – was 2.01%, down from 3.13% a year ago.
As of end-January, a total of 54 state/private/foreign lenders – including deposit banks, participation banks, and development and investment banks – were operating in Türkiye.
The sector had 208,499 employees working at 11,043 branches both in Türkiye and abroad, along with a total of 48,838 ATMs.