Turkish private sector's external debt at $173.4B, up in August
U.S. dollar and euro banknotes are seen through broken glass in this illustration taken, June 25, 2021. (Reuters Photo)


Outstanding foreign loans of the Turkish private sector in August totaled $173.4 billion (TL 1.58 trillion), slightly up by $50 million compared to end-2020, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) Thursday.

The short-term loans – excluding trade credits – of the sector received from abroad were at $8.9 billion as of August, down $835 million from the end of last year.

Some 83.4% of short-term loans consisted of the liabilities of financial institutions, the bank said.

Broken down by currency, 36.3% of Turkey's short-term credit was in euros, 35.3% in U.S. dollars, 25.1% in Turkish liras, and 3.3% in other currencies.

The private sector's long-term debt rose $886 million to $164.5 billion in the same period.

The bank said 40.1% of the total long-term foreign loans were owed by financial institutions.

"Regarding the currency composition, of the total long-term loans amounting to $164.5 billion, 61.5% consists of USD, 34.4% consists of Euro, 2.3% consists of Turkish lira and 1.8% consists of other currencies," it said.

The private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad, based on a remaining maturity basis, point to principal repayments of $40.4 billion for the next 12 months by the end of August.