Turkey: External assets up in March

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's assets abroad increased 1.1 percent from the end of 2017 to March 2018, the Turkish Central Bank reported Monday.

"According to the International Investment Position (IIP) at the end of March 2018, external assets recorded $230.5 billion indicating an increase of 1.1 percent compared to the end of 2017," the bank said.

The country's liabilities against non-residents slipped 1.4 percent to $674.2 billion.

The net international investment position (NIIP) -- the gap between Turkey’s assets abroad and liabilities -- reached to minus $443.7 billion at the end of this March compared with minus $455.4 billion at the end of 2017.

The NIIP is the value of overseas assets owned by a nation, minus the value of domestic assets owned by foreigners, including overseas assets and liabilities held by a nation’s government, the private sector and its citizens.

The reserve assets went up 2.4 percent to hit $110.3 billion while other investment dropped 1.5 percent to $75.8 billion during the same period.

Currency and deposits of banks -- one of the sub-items of other investment -- dropped to 6.3 percent to $32.7 billion compared to the end of 2017.

On the liabilities side, direct investment -- equity capital plus other capital -- decreased to $164.5 billion at the end of previous month, down 9.4 percent from the end of 2017 due to changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates, the Central Bank noted.

The average USD/TRY rate was around 3.82 in the first three months of this year, while one dollar was exchanged for 3.6466 Turkish liras on average in 2017.

"Total external loan stock of the banks recorded $93.7 billion decreasing by 0.8 percent compared to the end of 2017, and total external loan stock of the other sectors recorded $112.4 billion increasing by 4.1 percent," the bank added.