The BRSA released the weekly sector figures for the first week of 2013. The details are as follows: Lending: The Turkish banking sector's total loan book decreased by 0.5% w/w to TRY 801bn. In detail, TRY loans increased by 0.3% w/w, while foreign currency loans in dollar terms declined by 0.7% w/w.

When we examine the sub sectors, corporate loans decreased by 1.6% w/w, whereas consumer loans remained flat in the first week of 2013. Among consumer loans, credit cards registered the highest weekly growth at 1.1%, followed by vehicle loans with a 0.5% w/w growth.

Asset quality: The system's total gross bad loans increased by 1.6% w/w, while the NPL ratio increased to 2.93% from 2.86% in the previous week. The sector's coverage ratio remained at 76% for the week.

Deposits: For the week, total deposits declined by 1% to TRY 808bn. Local currency deposits decreased by 0.4% w/w, while FC deposits declined by 2% w/w in dollar terms. The loans to deposits ratio increased to 99.2% from 98.6% at end- 2012.

Source: bne