Turkish private sector short-term foreign debt falls

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish private sector’s short-term foreign debt – debt that must be paid in the next 12 months – decreased by $4.1 billion in November to $16.4 billion from the end of December 2015, the country's central bank announced Friday.

The sector's long-term foreign debt increased by $10.3 billion to $205.7 billion over the same period, the bank said.

"As for the sectoral breakdown by the end of November, of the total long-term loans in the amount of $205.7 billion, 51.7 percent consists of liabilities of financial institutions, whereas 48.3 percent consists of the liabilities of non-financial institutions," the bank added.

More than half of Turkey's private sector long-term debt was in U.S. dollars, at 60.5 percent, with 33.1 percent in euros, 4.4 percent in Turkish liras and 2 percent in other currencies.

Close to 48 percent of short-term debt was in dollars, followed by euros of 32.8 percent,18.8 percent in Turkish liras and 0.4 percent in other currencies.

"In the same period, of the total short-term loans in the amount of $16.4 billion, 80.9 percent consists of liabilities of financial institutions, whereas 19.1 percent consists of liabilities of non-financial institutions," the central bank added.