Turkey's private sector foreign debt reaches $177 billion

Duvar English 

Turkey's private sector held $177.6 billion in foreign debt as of March this year, according to the most recent figures from Turkey's Central Bank. 

61.8% of this debt was denominated in dollars, 33.5% in euros, 3% in Turkish lira, while the remaining 1.8% was held in a variety of other foreign currencies.

A troubled Turkish economy, including a battered lira that recently eclipsed the 7 to the dollar mark, alongside rapid spending of foreign reserves by the Central Bank has increased speculation that the country is approaching a crisis.

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The already deep recession has only been exacerbated by the deep economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic in Turkey, though the spread of the virus has slowed and certain businesses that were shuttered for weeks have reopened. As the lira has weakened over the years, many Turkish businesses holding debt in hard currencies went bankrupt as they were unable to make loan payments. 

42.4% of the long term private sector foreign debt was held by financial sector firms, while the remaining 57.6% of debt was held by firms outside of the financial sector. 

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