Turkish Central Bank posts $10.7B net profit in 2018

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – The Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) on Saturday announced it posted a net profit of nearly 56.3 billion Turkish liras ($10.7 billion) in 2018.</p> <p>The bank's net profit surged over 200 percent year-on-year, up from some 18.4 billion liras ($4.8 billion) in 2017.</p> <p>According to the CBRT's 87th accounting period balance sheet, the bank's assets totaled 721.5 billion liras ($137.2 billion), rising 13.2 percent on a yearly basis.</p> <p>Gold assets in international standard amounted to 488.5 tons, worth 105.9 billion liras ($20.1 billion) as of Dec. 31, 2018.</p> <p>The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 5.26 at the end of last year, versus 3.80 at the end of 2017.</p> <p>Last month, the bank held an Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting to distribute 33.7 billion lira ($6.3 billion) advance dividend to shareholders.</p> <p>The CBRT's General Assembly meeting is normally held in April, as the meeting was held in January to provide liquidity for the market earlier.