Turkey's foreign assets reach $228.4 bln

Turkey's foreign assets increased 7.4 percent to $228.4 billion from end-2012 to October 2013, while its liabilities rose 2.3 percent to $648.7 billion in the same period, according to data on the country's international investment position (IIP) released by the Central Bank of Turkey on Wednesday. The net IIP -- the difference between an economy's external financial assets and liabilities -- was $420.3 billion in October, down from $421.3 billion in 2012. Looking at the main asset groups, reserve assets rose by $15 billion to $134.2 billion from end-2012 to October this year. Banks' active deposits fell 8.4 percent to $22.1 billion in the same period. In the meantime, portfolio investments in October rose by $4.3 billion from end-2012, and stocks fell 19.3 percent to $63.4 billion in the same period. Banks' debt stock increased 25.5 percent to $80 billion in the same period, while other sectors' debt stocks rose 0.4 percent to $97.1 billion.