Turkey: Private sector foreign debt down at end of 2019

ISTANBUL

The outstanding short-and long-term debts of Turkey’s private sector fell last December, the Turkish Central Bank said on Wednesday.

The private sector's short-term overseas loans, excluding trade credits, were $9.5 billion in December, down $5.8 billion compared to the end of 2018.

Liabilities of financial institutions were 78.8% of all short-term loans, according to the bank.

A major chunk of the short-term credit, 45.2%, was in U.S. dollars, while the rest was in euros (32.2%), Turkish liras (22.1%), and other currencies (0.5%).

On the long-term side, the private sector's external loans totaled $191.5 billion last December, down $17.2 billion against the end of 2018.

Non-financial institution liabilities constituted 53.8% of long-term external loans.

Most of the long-term loans, 61.2%, were in U.S. dollars, followed by the euro and Turkish lira at 33.4% and 3.8%, respectively.

On a basis of remaining maturity at December-end, the private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad amounted to $50.7 billion in principal repayments over the next 12 months, the bank added.