Turkey: Private sector long-term foreign debt down

By Yunus Girgin

ANKARA (AA) – The outstanding long-term debt of Turkey’s private sector decreased in December while the short-term debt posted a rise, the Turkish Central Bank said on Wednesday.

The private sector's long-term external loans totaled $163.5 billion in December, down $16.5 billion over the end of 2019.

Non-financial institution liabilities constituted 56.9% of long-term external loans.

Most of the long-term loans were in US dollars with 62% followed by the euro and Turkish lira at 33.9% and 2.3%, respectively.

On the short-term side, the private sector's overseas loans, excluding trade credits, were $9.8 billion in December, up $1.1 billion compared to the end of 2019.

The liabilities of financial institutions were 84.1% of all short-term loans, according to the bank.

A major chunk of the short-term credit was in US dollars with 41.2%, while the rest was in euros (33.1%), Turkish liras (23.9%), and other currencies (1.8%).

On a basis of remaining maturity at December-end, the private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad amounted to $43.9 billion in principal repayments over the next 12 months, the bank added.