08.08.2022 Ankara
Speaking at the Access to Finance Consultation Meeting, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We are in a period where we all need to work selflessly for our country and act accordingly. We also ask our banks to act with this awareness without allocating the sacrifice part to the real sector and the profit to themselves.”
The Access to Finance
Consultation Meeting was hosted by the Union of Chambers and Commodity
Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu at the TOBB Twin
Towers Conference Hall with the participation of Alpaslan Çakar, President of
the Banks Association of Turkey and General Manager of Ziraat Bank, Osman
Arslan, General Manager of Halkbank, and Abdi Serdar Üstünsalih, General
Manager of Vakıfbank.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that in order to continue to grow the economy, it is necessary to ensure that
companies have access to finance with appropriate conditions, and that this
situation has become difficult in the recent period and that complaints from
every province and district in this direction have increased.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that the biggest problem is experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises
that are most sensitive to finance, and that in addition to the increase in
loan rates, credit limits are insufficient and there are problems in use.
- Credit need is higher
than in the past
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that companies could not get the loans they demanded from banks, and that very
high interest rates were applied to those who could.
Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed
out that the need for loans for investment and working capital has increased
significantly compared to past periods due to high inflation and cost
increases, and said, “Working capital loans have become critical for SMEs to
continue their activities. Therefore, taking into account the increasing need
for working capital, access to credit should be facilitated. It is expected
that our banks will continue to provide loans to our real sector on favorable
terms, taking into account the funding costs. Thus, our real sector will
continue to make the maximum contribution to investment, production, exports and
employment by overcoming all kinds of negative conditions with the least
damage.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu,
emphasizing that they have seen how important and valuable public banks are in
terms of the real sector, especially during the Covid-19 outbreak, stated that 3
public banks stand by the companies in the most troubled processes and support
them to survive.
Stating that they
expect the same approach from all banks in this critical period, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said:
“We are in a period
where we all need to work selflessly for our country and act accordingly. We
also ask our banks to act with this awareness without allocating the sacrifice
part of the business to the real sector and the profit part to themselves. I
hope that today's meeting will be an important opportunity to better understand
each other mutually, especially to reduce the difficulties experienced in
accessing loans.”
- UMT President and
Ziraat Bank General Manager Alpaslan Çakar
Alpaslan Çakar,
President of the Banks Association of Turkey (TBB) and General Manager of
Ziraat Bank, stated in his speech that they will continue to stand by each
customer who produces, invests and creates employment by taking into account
the environment and climate, and said, “Our country has to grow, and we have
the power, capability and resources to finance that growth.”
In his speech at the
opening of the TOBB Access to Finance Consultation Meeting, Çakar gave
information about the balance sheet and credit disbursements of the banking
sector.
Stating that the asset
size of the sector has reached 12 trillion TL, Çakar stated that the basis of
funding consists of deposit equity.
Çakar reported that the
total equity of banks is 1.3 trillion liras, a total of 7.5 trillion liras are
collected from real and legal persons as deposits, and non-deposit resources
are 2.8 trillion liras.
- “As of July, we
extended 12 times more loans to companies compared to the same period last
year”
Stating that the total
amount of loans extended by the banking sector as of July 30 last year was 137
billion liras, Çakar said that 45 billion liras of the 70 billion liras of
loans extended to companies were extended to large enterprises and 25 billion
liras to SMEs.
Stating that 1.1
trillion liras of loans were extended in the same period this year, Çakar said,
“The loan extended to companies was 901 billion liras, and last year this
figure was 70 billion liras. We have extended loans at a rate of 12 times as
much as last year.”
Çakar said that they
are aware that inflation has increased this figure, but it is also important
that 901 billion liras of credit is extended to the real sector.
- “We will continue to
stand by each of our customers who produce, invest and create employment”
Çakar stated that the
share of loans extended by individuals was 23 percent at the end of last year
and the share of loans used by companies was 77 percent, adding that they now
give 19 percent of loans to individuals and 81 percent to companies.
Çakar emphasized that
the structuring mechanism works very well for companies that have difficulty in
paying their debts, noting that a loan of 343 billion liras was structured, of
which 313 billion liras were closely monitored and 30 billion liras were
non-performing loans.
Stating that the share
of restructured loans in total loans is 6 percent, Çakar said that the ratio of
provisions allocated for non-performing loans is around 79 percent. Cakar said:
“Our balance sheet
structures are solid and we are in a position to support you in the coming
period. On behalf of the entire banking sector, I can easily say, “There is no
environment where you lose and I win. As long as you win, I can win, and as
long as your balance sheets are good, my balance sheet can be good.” The real
sector and the financial sector have to cooperate and act together. Economic
management, the real sector and the financial sector, we have to complement
each other. This is how we act, and we will continue to act like this in the
coming period. The main thing is that the balance sheet of the country is
functioning healthily, and as long as the balance sheet of the country is
healthy, the balance sheet of all of us will continue to function correctly. We
will continue to stand by each of our customers who produce, invest and create
employment by taking into account the environment and climate. Our country has
to grow, and we have the power, the capability, the funding, and the resources
to finance that growth. Don't hesitate to do so.”
The meeting continued
closed to the press after the opening speeches.