Turkey: Banking sector posts $2.2B net profit in Q1

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas </p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkish banking sector's net profit totaled some 12.35 billion Turkish liras ($2.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2019, the country's banking watchdog reported Tuesday.</p> <p>According to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, total assets of the sector rose by 22.6% on a yearly basis to reach 4.14 trillion liras ($740 billion).</p> <p>Amounting to some 2.52 trillion liras ($450 billion), loans — the biggest sub-category of assets — surged 14.6% year-on-year.</p> <p>On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Turkey were 2.21 trillion Turkish liras ($395 billion) in the three-month period, marking an annual hike of 24.2%.</p> <p>The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira (USD/TRY) exchange rate was around 5.55 at the end of March this year, versus 4.00 at the end of the same month in 2018.