By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA (AA) – The total net profit of the Turkish banking sector amounted to 33.5 billion Turkish liras ($6.87 billion) in January-July this year, said the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) on Wednesday.
The banking sector's seven-month net profit rose by 15.5 percent year-on-year, up from net profit of around 29 billion Turkish liras ($8.28 billion) in the same period last year.
The banking watchdog said the total assets of the sector were 3.83 trillion Turkish liras ($784.4 billion) as of July 2018 with an annual hike of 27.7 percent.
Loans given by the sector — the biggest sub-category of assets — totaled 2.42 trillion Turkish liras ($495.6 billion) at the end of July, showing a 24.5 percent increase on a yearly basis.
On the liabilities side, deposits held at the country's lenders totaled 1.97 trillion Turkish liras ($403.7 billion) as of July, marking an annual increase of 23.5 percent.
