Regulations set increase saving in Turkey

The regulations implemented in 2013 to decrease the demand for consumer loans and increase savings has been deemed successful, as the increase rate of consumer loans has decreased from 28 percent to 14 percent, and the number of cash payments made with credit cards were higher than number of sales with installments. With the regulation that came into force on Feb. 1, 2014, both sales with credit card installments and cash payments with credit cards saw a decline. Accordingly, as of the end of 2013, banks had TL 47.5 billion ($16.426 billion) in receivables from installment payments with credit cards but this figure dropped 27 percent to TL 34.5 billion as of August this year. Furthermore, cash receivables from credit cards increased 16.2 percent to TL 42.2 billion in the same period. Another precaution taken to slow down the credit expansion rate was limiting the credit periods for vehicle, real estate and consumer loans. According to the regulation that came into force as of the beginning of last year, the period for consumer loans was limited to 36 months and the loan amount for automobile and real estate below TL 50,000 cannot be more than 75 percent of the actual price of the automobile or the real estate.