The Turkish private sector's outstanding external debt declined by $3.1 billion (TL 45.2 billion) in October compared to end-2020, to $169.8 billion, the country's central bank announced Thursday.

The short-term loans – excluding trade credits – of the sector received from abroad were $8.4 billion as of October, down by $1.3 billion from the end of last year, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT).

Some 83.3% of short-term loans consisted of the liabilities of financial institutions, while 16.7% was made up of liabilities of non-financial institutions.

Broken down by currency, 36% of Turkey's short-term credit was in euros, 37.8% in U.S. dollars, 21.9% in Turkish liras, and 4.3% in other currencies.

On the other hand, the private sector's long-term debt narrowed by $3.1 billion to $169.8 billion in the same period, the bank said.

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 in the amount of $161.4 billion, 62.3% consists of USD, 33.9% consists of Euro, 2% 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 $42.2 billion for the next 12 months by the end of October.