Turkey’s external assets stood at nearly $231B in Nov

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's external assets increased by 7.1 percent as of November last year to stand at $230.9 billion compared to the end of 2016, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) reported on Friday.

Over the eleven-month period in 2017, the country's liabilities against non-residents rose by 11.2 percent to reach $643.5 billion, the CBRT said.

The net international investment position (NIIP) -- the gap between Turkey’s assets abroad and liabilities -- amounted to minus $412.6 billion in November last year while it was minus $363.2 billion at the end of 2016.

NIIP is the value of overseas assets owned by a nation, minus the value of domestic assets owned by foreigners, including overseas assets and liabilities held by a nation’s government, the private sector and its citizens.

Reserve assets, a sub-item under assets, were $114.9 billion at the end of November marking a 8.1 percent hike compared to the end of 2016, while other investments were recorded at $73 billion, rising 6.6 percent in the same period.

The CBRT noted that currency and bank deposits, one of the sub-items of other investments, increased by 3.3 percent to 30.9 billion compared to the end of 2016.

On the liabilities side, direct investment -- equity capital plus other capital -- at the end of November recorded $158.3 billion, indicating a 11.8 percent increase compared to the end of 2016 "with the contribution of the changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates," the CBRT reported.

The average USD/TRY rate was 3.65 last year while one dollar was exchanged for 3.03 Turkish liras on average in 2016.

Total external loan stock of the banks was $90.7 billion as of November last year, up 3.5 percent from the amount at the end of 2016, "as total external loan stock of the other sectors recorded $110 billion increasing by 9.4 percent," the Central Bank added.