Turkish private sector's external debt down in July

ISTANBUL

The value of the Turkish private sector's outstanding loans received from foreign countries fell in July, the country's Central Bank announced on Wednesday.

The private sector's short-term external loans -- excluding trade credits -- amounted to $12.9 billion in July, down $2.5 billion versus the end of last year, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT).

The bank said that 75.3% of all short-term loans consisted of liabilities of financial institutions.

On the long-term side, the private sector's loans from abroad totaled $198.5 billion as of July, down $11.2 billion from the end of 2018.

Financial institution liabilities constituted 47% of long-term external loans, the CBRT noted.

Regarding the currency composition, of the total long-term loans in the amount of $198.5 billion, 60.6% consists of the U.S. dollar, 33.8% consists of euro, 4.1% consists of Turkish lira and 1.5% consists of other currencies.

"And of the total short-term loans in the amount of $12.9 billion, 53.9% consists of the U.S. dollar, 27% consists of euro, 18.9% consists of Turkish lira and 0.2% consist of other currencies," the CBRT said.

The bank added that principal repayments of the private sector’s total outstanding external loans were $57.1 billion for the next 12 months by the end of July.