Turkey faces 3 trillion‑lira credit‑card debt crisis, 2 million in legal tracking

Turkey's credit‑card market has reached a critical point, with 147 million cards in circulation and total outstanding balances hitting about 3 trillion Turkish lira. Around 2 million cardholders are already on legal‑tracking lists, and banks report roughly 323 billion lira in non‑performing credit‑card loans.

TESK (Turkey Employers and Craftsmen Confederation) president Bendevi Palandöken warned that the debt burden poses a serious economic risk, impairing daily consumption and halting small‑business purchases. He urged the Central Bank, the Finance Ministry and the Banking Association to cap interest rates and restructure repayment schedules to prevent further defaults and to restore functional cash flow for both consumers and merchants.