Buoyed by an expansion in foreign investment, a strong local currency and an influx of external funds, the assets of the Turkish banking system increased 28.5% to a record high of Tl500bn ($350bn) in 2006, according to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), the country’s supreme banking authority.
The BDDK’s special report, published at the end of April, also revealed that Turkey’s banks raked in a record net income of Tl11.5bn in 2006. State-owned TC Ziraat Bankasi, Turkey’s second largest bank, recorded the highest profits among Turkish banks in 2006, posting a net income of Tl2.1bn. All 16 banks listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, including the top and middle-tier private and state banks, reported healthy earnings for 2006 (See Table 1).
