Turkey: Banking sector’s net profit rises 12 pct

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s banking sector's net profit climbed 12 percent annually in the January-November period, according to the country's banking watchdog on Monday.

The figure amounted to 50.7 billion liras ($9.8 billion) in the first eleven months of 2018, up from 45.2 billion liras ($11.5 billion) in the same period last year, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) data revealed.

The sector's total assets increased 17.5 percent year-on-year and reached over 3.8 trillion liras ($743.7 billion) as of Nov. 30.

Loans, the biggest sub-category of assets, totaled 2.4 trillion liras ($461.8 billion) from January to November, rising 13 percent from the same period last year.

On the liabilities side, deposits at the country's lenders climbed 16.5 percent over the same period, reaching 2 trillion Turkish liras ($386 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 5.21 as of Nov. 30 this year, while one U.S. dollar traded for some 3.92 at the end of the same month last year.