Turkish assets overseas reach $226.5 billion in August

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s overseas assets rose by 5.1 percent in the first eight months of 2017, the Central Bank said Tuesday.

The country owned external assets worth $226.5 billion at the end of August, compared to $215.5 billion at the end of last year.

Overseas liabilities rose 19.1 percent to reach $688.8 billion over the same period, the bank said, meaning the Net International Investment Position -- the gap between overseas assets and liabilities -- rose from minus $363 billion to minus $462.4 billion over the eight months.

Liabilities consist of assets in Turkey owned by foreign individuals and entities, including companies and governments.

Turkey’s reserve overseas assets stood at $112 billion at the end of August -- a 5.4 percent rise over eight months.

Other investments, including currency and banks deposit, rose 5.2 percent to reach $72 billion, the bank reported.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s direct investment liabilities increased 35.6 percent to stand at $192.1 billion. Changes in market value and foreign exchange rates contributed to the rise.

A U.S. dollar was traded for 3.02 Turkish liras on average in 2016, which rose to a 3.61 average in the eight months to August.

The total for overseas loans from the Turkish banking sector rose slightly to $88.3 billion by August this year -- up 0.8 percent -- and foreign loans by other sectors leapt 9.2 percent to $109.6 billion.