By almost every measure, Turkey’s banks enjoyed one of the best years in the country’s recent history in 2017, with strong performances across the board as the economy recovered from a series of difficult years. Despite a challenging political environment and deteriorating relations between Turkey and its Western allies, banks took advantage of a generous government stimulus mechanism to make it a boom year.
In 2017, Turkey’s economy is estimated to have grown by about 7%, but the banking sector far outdid even the overall gains. The combined net income of the country’s banks increased by 31% in 2017 to $13bn, according to data collected by Turkey’s banking regulator. Total bank assets rose 19% to $870bn, and total lending rose by 18% to $550bn.
