Turkey's net international investment position recovers in July

Turkey's net international investment position (NIIP) continued improving this July, with the overall figure being 26.2% lower than at the end of last year, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT ) said Monday.

The country's external assets grew 10.3% to $282 billion (TL 2.44 trillion), while its liabilities against non-residents fell 11.8% to $572 billion, latest data showed.

"The NIIP, defined as the difference between Turkey's external assets and liabilities, posted minus $290 billion at the end of July 2021, in comparison to minus $393.1 billion at the end of 2020," the bank said in a statement.

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 nation's government, the private sector, and its citizens.

Reserve assets increased by 13.4% to $105.8 billion, while other investments climbed 10% to $119.2 billion by the end of July.

Currency and bank deposits, one of the sub-items of other investments, amounted to $52.2 billion, up 24.5% from the end of last year.

On the liabilities side, direct investment – equity capital plus other capital – was at $158.2 billion, a decrease of 32.8% from the end of 2020 "with the contribution of the changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates," the bank said.

From January to July this year, the average U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 8, while last year's average rate was 7.02.

The data also showed that the total external loan stock of banks was $70.7 billion, down 1% from the end of last year, while the total for other sectors increased 1.9% to $98.7 billion.