Foreign loan burden on Turkish private sector eases

ANKARA

The Turkish private sector’s outstanding loans from abroad fell further in April compared to the end of last year, the country's Central Bank announced on Wednesday.

Long-term debts hit $173.6 billion as of April, falling $7.4 billion from end-2019, with 41.9% held by financial institutions.

Some 62% of Turkish private sector long-term debt was in US dollars, 33.5% in euros, 2.8% in Turkish liras, and 1.7% in other currencies.

The private sector's short-term loans – debt that must be paid in the next 12 months – also fell $895 million to $8.1 billion in the same period.

Financial institutions held 76% of the short-term loans, while 24% consisted of liabilities of non-financial institutions.

“Regarding the currency composition of the total short-term loans, 38.8% consists of US dollars, 34.3% consists of euros, 25.6% consists of Turkish liras, and 1.3% consists of other currencies,” the Central Bank said.