Wednesday, 16 August 2006
Even though the Turkish Lira appreciated to a great extent, 26.8 percent of the total savings made by the Turkish real and corporate bodies inside the country are in foreign currencies. Following the fluctuations in May, there was an increase in the savings in foreign exchange due to the rise in exchange rate. In July, the savings in foreign exchange began to decrease again.
During the first seven-month period of 2006, the savings in YTL rose by YTL 18 billion, while the savings in foreign exchange increased by YTL 14.3 billion. However, an important part of the increase in the savings in foreign exchange originated from the increase experienced in the USD rate when compared to the end of 2005. The savings in foreign exchange rose by USD 2.6 billion.
Out of the total domestic savings which were YTL 389.5 billion as of the end of July, YTL 284.9 billion were in YTL and YTL 104.6 billion were in foreign currencies. Out of the total savings, 73.2 percent were in YTL and 26.8 percent were in foreign currencies.
When compared to the end of 2005, there was an increase in the savings in foreign exchange, while there was a decrease in the savings in YTL. The savings in YTL rose by 74.7 percent, while the savings in foreign exchange fell by 25.3 percent.
After the Turkish Lira (YTL) began to appreciate again following the 2001 crisis in Turkey, it is observed that the reverse dolarization period halted as of May 2006 together with the fluctuations in the markets.
The share of the savings in foreign exchange, which was 32.5 percent at the end of 2003, dropped to 29.6 percent at the end of 2004 and to 25.3 percent at the end of 2005. The rate which can also be described as the dolarization period continued to decrease in the first months of 2006. The dolarization rate was 25.5 percent in January, 25.6 percent in February and 25 percent in March. It fell to 24.5 percent in April. However, it rose to 27 percent in May and 27.3 percent in June.
The increase in the dolarization rate in May and June originated mainly from the increase in the exchange rate. Therefore, even though there was no significant change in the saving trend, the savings in foreign exchange reduced in July in line with the decrease in the exchange rate.
A great part of the domestic savings in foreign exchange worth YTL 89.1 billion (USD 59.54 billion) were the foreign exchange deposit accounts in the banks. There was an increase worth YTL 12.7 billion in the foreign exchange deposit accounts during the first six-month period of 2006, while there was an increase worth USD 15.2 billion in the YTL deposit accounts.
Out of the savings in foreign exchange, YTL 4.7 billion were saved in the Treasury domestic borrowing securities in foreign exchange, YTL 6.3 billion in the Eurobonds issued by the Treasury for foreign borrowing and YTL 4.4 billion were in the accounts of the accession banks.
Out of the YTL savings, YTL 160 billion were in the deposits, YTL 65 billion in the Treasury domestic borrowing securities, YTL 25.3 billion in the investment funds, YTL 3.2 billion in repo, YTL 5.5 billion in the accession banks, YTL 22.8 billion in the stocks, YTL 2 billion in the pension investment funds and YTL 1.7 billion in the investment partnerships.
16 August 2006, The New Anatolian
