Turkey: Private sector foreign debt down in May

By Gokhan Ergocun

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

The private sector's short-term overseas loans -- excluding trade credits -- were $7.6 billion in May, down $1.4 billion compared to the end of 2019.

Liabilities of financial institutions were 78.7% of all short-term loans, according to the bank.

A major chunk of the short-term credit, 38%, was in the US dollar, while the rest was in euros (36.3%), Turkish liras (24.2%), and other currencies (1.5%).

On the long-term side, the private sector's external loans totaled $162.3 billion in May, down $17.3 billion against the end of 2019.

Non-financial institution liabilities constituted 55.6% of long-term external loans.

Most of the long-term loans, 63.6%, were in US dollar, followed by the euro and Turkish lira at 32.7% and 3%, respectively.

On a basis of remaining maturity at May-end, the private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad amounted to $40.1 billion in principal repayments over the next 12 months, the bank added.