Turkey's banking sector net profit totaled TL 32.8 billion in January-August this year, the country's banking watchdog reported yesterday.

Total assets of the sector dropped 4.88% year-on-year to TL 4.27 trillion, according to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).

Loans – the biggest sub-category of assets – went down 6.13% on a yearly basis to amount to some TL 2.53 trillion.

On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Turkey were TL 2.35 trillion in the eight-month period, marking an annual hike of 5.74%.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 5.81 at the end of August this year, versus 6.42 at the end of the same month in 2018.