Page 45 - TURKRptJul20

The central bank ​suspended​ a reserve requirement for banks until the end of 2020 in order to further boost credit flows​.
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey drew around Turkish lira (TRY) 96bn (€12.4bn) in loans from local banks in April, business daily Dunya has ​reported​.
Total loans of the country’s banking industry’s grew by TRY208bn from March to April, thus SMEs accounted for nearly 46% of the credit expansion.
The amount of SME loans extended by local banks reached TRY758bn as of April, marking a 14.4% m/m increase.
Loans to small sized companies increased nearly 17% m/m while the rise as regards medium sized firms was 13.8% m/m.
April saw 920,000 Turks take out their first ever bank loan, according to latest data​ from the Risk Center of the Turkish Banks Association (TBB). The figure includes those who borrowed to benefit from synthetically low rates brought in amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and went on to invest the loaned money in FX and gold.
The data also showed that 38,000 Turks used a credit card for the first time in April, while 23,000 people used an overdraft account for the first time and 13,000 obtained a first ever mortgage loan.
Mortgage loan borrowing kept rising in May and June, with state banks launching a new package with lower rates as of June 1. Interventions created anomalies as usual and home prices boomed.
The average mortgage loan and commercial loan rates fell below 10% while the average consumer loan rate remained above 12% as of June 5. Official inflation stands at 11.4%, but realistically the inflation rate in Turkey is at least double that.
While lending has accelerated, some observers have warned that the government should be providing direct support to the economy rather than placing more people and companies in debt. However, the two-decade-old neoliberal policy in Turkey of pushing people into debt and, as a result, confining them to vote for an alleged stability, is still in play, complain critics.
A total of 32mn people were carrying bank debt as of end-April. More than 60mn people aged 18+, who are eligible to obtain bank debt, live in Turkey.
The nation’s overall official population stands towards 84mn, excluding immigrants, while there are officially at least 3.6mn Syrian immigrants in the country. Taking into account the number of unregistered immigrants, the immigrant total may well be over 10mn.
45​ TURKEY Country Report​ July 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com