Turkey's banking sector sees falling KKM balance and surge in corporate foreign‑currency holdings

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) reported that the KKM (bank credit) balance fell by 11 million lira to 191 million lira in the week to 24 July. In the same period total credit volume rose by 225.775 billion lira to 26.975 trillion lira, while total deposits increased by 492.886 billion lira to 31.060 trillion lira. Consumer loans reached 3.398 trillion lira, with 812 billion lira for housing, 42 billion lira for vehicle loans and 2.544 trillion lira for needs loans. Credit‑card receivables grew 1.6 % to 3.279 trillion lira, and legal equity rose to 5.912 trillion lira.

At the same time, foreign‑currency deposits showed a stark split: households’ FX and precious‑metal accounts fell by 334 million dollars, while corporate accounts rose by 5.594 billion dollars, bringing total household FX holdings down by more than 650 million dollars over two weeks. Companies are buying foreign currency to hedge against a widening FX gap, which stood at a record 204.4 billion dollars in May, raising concerns about potential balance‑sheet stress if the lira weakens further.