Turkey's external debt stock reaches $453.2B

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's gross external debt stock stood at $453.2 billion, more than half of its gross domestic product (GDP) -- 53.3 percent -- at the end of December 2017, the Treasury announced Friday.

According to the Treasury, Turkey’s net foreign debt reached $291.2 billion as of Dec. 31, accounting for more than 34 percent of Turkey's GDP.

Loans under the guarantee of the Treasury Undersecretariat stood at $13.8 billion during the same period.

EU-defined general government debt stock was over $232 billion (877.9 billion liras), or 28.3 percent of GDP, at the end of December.

The European Commission projected, in its Autumn 2017 Economic Forecast report, that Turkey's general government gross debt would rise from 25.1 percent of GDP in 2016 to 28.2 percent in 2017.