Turkey: Private sector foreign debt down in August

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - The outstanding short- and long-term debts of Turkey’s private sector fell last August, the Turkish Central Bank said on Thursday.

The private sector's short-term overseas loans -- excluding trade credits -- were $8.4 billion in August, down $333 million compared to the end of 2019.

Liabilities of financial institutions were 83.2% of all short-term loans, according to the bank.

A major chunk of the short-term credit, 42.8%, was in US dollars, while the rest was in euros (38.7%), Turkish liras (16.1%), and other currencies (2.4%).

On the long-term side, the private sector's external loans totaled $162.2 billion in August, down $16.9 billion against the end of 2019.

Non-financial institution liabilities constituted 56.4% of long-term external loans.

Most of the long-term loans, 62%, were in US dollars, followed by the euro and Turkish lira, 34.2% and 2.2%, respectively.

On a basis of remaining maturity at August-end, the private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad amounted to $42.1 billion in principal repayments over the next 12 months, the bank added.