ANKARA: The total asset size of the Turkish banking sector as of the end of this March has passed the individual size of 174 economies around the world. According to Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) economic data for 2016 show that the total asset size of the Turkish banking sector reached TL 2.9 trillion ($815 billion) at the end of March, increasing by TL 135 billion from the end of last year.
Taking the March 31 exchange rate in consideration, the asset size stood at $786.8 billion, greater than the individual gross GDPs of 174 countries that come after Turkey in the IMF’s 2016 year-end data. Among the economies were some European countries including the Netherlands with $771.2 billion, Switzerland with $659.9 billion, Sweden with $511.4 billion, Belgium with $467 billion and Austria with $386.8 billion. In addition, the Turkish banking sector’s asset size was almost four times larger than that of neighboring Greece’s GDP. Interesting results also emerged as the Turkish banking sector’s asset size easily overtook the combined economic size of the world’s 91 poorest countries at $774.5 billion.
