Turkish central government gross debt stock hits $223B

ANKARA

Turkey’s central government’s gross debt stock became 1.33 trillion Turkish liras (around $223 billion) as of end-2019, according to Treasury and Finance Ministry on Monday.

The figure was up 24.3% year-on-year, the ministry data showed.

The gross debt stock includes the outstanding debt of public sector institutions, the Central Bank, private companies, and households.

More than half of the debt stock is denominated in the local currency while 49.7% is in foreign currency.

Meanwhile, the stock of Treasury receivables stood at 18 billion Turkish liras (some $3 billion) as of December 31.

As of the end of 2018, the Turkish government’s gross debt stock had amounted to 1.07 trillion Turkish liras ($202.5 billion).

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira rate was 5.95 as of end-2019, while one dollar had traded for 5.3 Turkish liras at the end of 2018.