The total net profit of the Turkish banking sector hit TL 28.9 billion ($6.34 billion) in the first half of 2018, according to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) yesterday.

In the six-month period, the banking sector's net profit saw an annual hike of 13.8 percent, up from the net profit of TL 25.4 billion in January-June last year.

As of June 2018, the total assets of the sector stood at TL 3.67 trillion, with a 23.5 percent year-on-year increase, the banking watchdog said.

Marking a yearly rise of 22.6 percent, loans given by the sector - the biggest subcategory of assets - amounted to TL 2.35 trillion at the end of June.

On the liabilities side, deposits held at the country's lenders totaled TL 1.9 trillion as of June, indicating an annual increase of 20.3 percent.

According to the official data, the banking sector's regulatory capital to risk weighted assets ratio - a significant indicator to figure out minimum capital requirements of lenders - was at 16.26 percent this June, versus 16.87 percent in the same month last year.

The BDDK also reported that the ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans - another crucial indicator that shows how healthy the banking sector is - was 3.02 percent last month, compared to 3.09 percent in June 2017.