By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's external assets climbed 2.1 percent as of January 2018 to reach $232.8 billion compared to the end of 2017, the Turkish Central Bank reported on Monday.
The country's liabilities against non-residents also rose 4.7 percent to $713.8 billion, the bank said.
The net international investment position (NIIP) — the gap between Turkey’s assets abroad and liabilities — amounted to minus $481 billion at the end of this January compared to minus $453.5 billion at the end of 2017.
The NIIP 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, a sub-item under assets, stood at $115.3 billion at the end of January, climbing 7.1 percent compared to the end of last year, while other investments slipped to $73.8 billion, down 4.1 percent during the same period.
“Currency and deposits of banks — one of the sub-items of other investment — decreased 7 percent to $32.5 billion compared to the end of 2017, ” the bank said.
On the liabilities side, direct investment — equity capital plus other capital — totaled $196.9 billion at the end of January, up 8.6 percent from the end of 2017 “with the contribution of the changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates, ” the Central Bank noted.
The average USD/TRY rate was 3.7724 in January, while one dollar was exchanged for 3.6466 Turkish liras on average in 2017.
Banks' external loan stock came in at $93.1 billion, up 0.6 percent compared to the end of 2017, and the total external loan stock of other sectors totaled $111.2 billion, up 2.8 percent, ” the bank said.
