Tuba Sahin
18 March 2021•Update: 18 March 2021
ANKARA
Turkey's external assets reached $246.3 billion as of this January, a decline of 2.3% from the end of last year, the Turkish Central Bank data showed on Thursday.
Its liabilities against non-residents fell 0.9% to $638.7 billion during the same period.
The net international investment position (NIIP) – the gap between Turkey’s external assets and liabilities – narrowed in the month, reaching minus $392.4 billion in June. The NIIP was minus $404.1 billion at the end of 2020.
Showing a snapshot in time, the NIIP – which can be either positive or negative – 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 country’s government, the private sector, and its citizens.
Reserve assets, a sub-item under assets, climbed 2.6% to $95.7 billion in the same period.
Other investments, another sub-item under assets, recorded $97.5 billion in January indicating an increase of 6.6% compared to the end of 2020.
On the liabilities side, direct investment – equity capital plus other capital – as of end-January fell 5.5% to $201.4 billion “with the contribution of the changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates.”
In 2020, the average US dollar/Turkish lira rate was around 7.02, while one dollar was exchanged for 7.39 liras on average in January.
“FX [foreign exchange] deposits of non-residents held within the resident banks recorded $34.4 billion at the end of January 2021, reflecting an increase of 3.3% compared to the end of 2020,” the bank said.
“Turkish lira deposits increased by 9.4% recording $17.2 billion,” it added.
The Central Bank said the total external loan stock of the banks amounted to $63.7 billion, a slight decrease of 0.7%, and the total external loan stock of the other sectors was $96.3 billion, declining 0.5% in the same period.
