Turkey: Short-term external debt stock at $141.2B

ISTANBUL

Turkey's short-term external debt stock totaled $141.2 billion as of the end of this February, official data showed on Friday.

The country's external debt stock – maturing within one year or less – rose 2% in February from the end of 2020, according to the Turkish Central Bank.

Official data said the currency breakdown of the debt stock was made up of 43.5% US dollars, 27.1% euros, 14.5% Turkish liras, and 14.9% other currencies.

The bank's short-term external debt stock over the same period posted an increase of 6.1% to $61.5 billion, while other sectors' short-term external debt was down 3.7% to $56.9 billion.

The rest of the amount – nearly $22.8 billion – belonged to the Central Bank, up from $21.38 billion at the end of the last year.

"From the borrowers' side, the short-term debt of the public sector, which consists of public banks, increased by 10.1% to $28.2 billion,'' it said.

"And the short-term debt of the private sector decreased by 1.4% to $90.1 billion compared to the end of 2020," the bank said.

Short-term foreign exchange (FX) loans the banks received from foreign countries rose 0.8% to $8.9 billion, the data showed.

Foreign exchange deposits of non-residents – except in the banking sector – in resident banks fell 0.5% in February versus the end of 2020 to $20 billion.

"And FX deposits of non-resident banks recorded $14.6 billion, increasing by 10.2%," it added.

The Central Bank also noted that non-residents' Turkish lira deposits in the same period rose 14.1% to $17.9 billion.