Turkey forecasts foreign debt payment of $11.3B in 2020

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The Treasury and Finance Ministry is forecasting 65.1 billion Turkish Liras ($11.3 billion) in external debt payments in 2020.

The total amount of debt service is estimated at 352.1 billion Turkish liras ($61 billion) for next year, the Treasury Financing Program said on Friday.

The ministry said it expects total domestic debt service to hit 287 billion liras ($50 billion).

The principal payments would total 222.6 billion Turkish liras ($39 billion) with interest at 129.4 billion Turkish liras ($22.5 billion).

"The total non-borrowing resources including the cash primary surplus, privatization revenues, the revenues from 2-B land sales, the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund transfers, receipts from on-lent and guaranteed debt and use of cash account are minus (-) 5.1 billion liras," it said.

The ministry plans to borrow $9 billion equivalent foreign funding next year through bond issuances in international capital markets.

"The total amount of external financing is planned to reach at most $9.6 billion via project and program loans from international financial institutions," it said.

Domestic borrowing in 2020 was projected to total 299.6 billion Turkish liras ($52.2 billion).