Turkey: Short-term external debt stock hits $134.6B

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's short-term external debt stock amounted to $134.6 billion as of the end of November, official data showed on Friday.

The country's external debt stock -- maturing within one year or less -- rose by 9.5% in November versus the end of 2019, according to the Turkish Central Bank.

The banks’ short-term external debt stock diminished by 0.3% to $55.5 billion and other sectors’ short-term external debt stock dropped by 1.7% to $57.7 billion during the same period.

Official data revealed that the currency breakdown of the debt stock was composed of 43.8% US dollars, 28.3% euros, 12.4% Turkish liras, and 15.5% other currencies.

From the borrowers side, the short-term debt of public sector, which consists of public banks, posted a 1.8% decrease to 24.6% billion.

"The short-term debt of private sector decreased by 0.8% to $88.7 billion compared to the end of 2019," the bank said.

Short-term foreign exchange (FX) loans the banks received from foreign countries rose by 6.1% to $8.1 billion, the data showed.

Foreign exchange deposits of non-residents -- except in the banking sector -- in resident banks fell by 3.6% in November versus the end of 2019, recording $20.3 billion.

"And FX deposits of non-resident banks recorded $12.3 billion decreasing by 8.3%," it added.

The Central Bank also noted that non-residents' Turkish lira deposits increased by 8.8% and was recorded as $14.8 billion in the same period.​​​​​​​