October 17, 2017•Update: October 17, 2017
By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA
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.
