External assets total $298.1B at 2021-end

TURKEY ended 2021 with external assets worth $298.1 billion (TL 4 trillion), down 16.6% from the end of 2020, according to data released by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) on Friday.

Liabilities against nonresidents fell 17.5% to $528.3 billion during the same period.

The net international investment position (NIIP) – the difference between external assets and liabilities – is a $230.2 billion deficit at the end of December, versus $384.8 billion deficit at the end of 2020.

The NIIP, which can be either positive or negative, is the value of overseas assets owned by a nation, minus the value of domestic assets owned by foreigners, including overseas assets and liabilities held by a nation’s government, the private sector, and its citizens.

Reserve assets, a sub-item under assets, jumped 19.2% to $111.2 billion, the data showed.

Other investments, another sub-item under assets, totaled $126.1 billion with a rise of 16.4% from the end of 2020.

“Currency and deposits of banks, one of the sub-items of other investment, recorded $50.9 billion, indicating an increase of 21.5% compared to the end of 2020,” the bank said.

On the liabilities side, direct investments-equity capital plus other capital at the end of December 2021 amounted to $122.2 billion.

The figure was down 47% from the end of the previous year “with the contribution of the changes in the market value and foreign exchange rates,” the bank said.

The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 13 at the end of 2021, significantly higher than the figure of 7.35 at the end of 2020.

Nonresidents’ foreign exchange deposits were up by 4.1% to $34.7 billion, while Turkish lira deposits dropped by 38.3% to $9.7 billion.

The total external loan stock of banks amounted to $66.9 billion, down 6.5% from the end of 2020, while total external loan stock of other sectors grew by 1% to $96.7 billion, according to the central bank.