Turkey’s external assets rise 5.3 percent

ANKARA

Turkey's external assets growth in the first nine months of 2016 outpaced the liabilities according to Turkish Central Bank data Thursday.

The external assets of the country grew 5.3 percent during the January-September period compared to the same one last year to reach $221.3 billion, while liabilities increased 4.1 percent to reach $614.4 billion over the same period.

The net international investment position, or NIIP, which indicates the difference between Turkey’s assets abroad and liabilities, was minus $386.6 billion in September, up 1.7 percent compared to minus $380 billion in December 2015.

The net international investment position (NIIP) is the total of external assets minus the stock of external liabilities.

The NIIP figures showed that one sub-item, reserve assets, had reached $117.8 billion at the end of September showing an increase of 6.6 percent compared December last year, while other investments were at $64.6 billion, up 2.5 percent.

These investments include currency and deposits of banks. They were recorded at $26.4 billion indicating an increase of 13.8 percent.

Direct investment at the end of September slightly decreased by 0.5 percent to $147.2 billion "due to changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates", the Central Bank said.

According to the report, the total external loan stock of the banks amounted to $89.8 billion as of September 2016, indicating a decrease of 3.2 percent compared to the end of 2015 while the other business sectors' total external loan stock reached $108.4 billion - an increase of 9.9 percent.

Turkey’s national income was close to $721 billion in 2015 and the country's debts represented 34 percent of the national income.