Foreign loan burden on Turkish private sector falls

ANKARA

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

Long-term debts hit $177.6 billion as of March, falling $3 billion from end-2019, with 42.2% held by financial institutions.

Some 61.8% of Turkish private sector long-term debt was in US dollars, with 33.5% in euros, 3% 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 $1.2 billion to $7.8 billion in the same period.

Financial institutions held 76.2% of the short-term loans, while 23.8% consisted of liabilities of non-financial institutions.

"Regarding the currency composition of the total short-term loans, 43.2% consists of US dollars, 33.2% consists of euros, 22.9% consists of Turkish liras, and 0.7% consist of other currencies," it said.