Speaking to the Anatolia news agency about TOKİ’s financial situation, Bayraktar stated that the administration’s monthly revenue is TL 200 to 300 million, while its monthly expenditures total around TL 400 to 500 million. The amount of money paid to contractors last year was TL 3.6 billion, he said, adding that to close the gap they had been forced to take out loans.
Bayraktar explained the factors behind this gap, saying that houses are sold with a payment schedule of between 10 and 20 years and that the money received from sales does not cover monthly expenses. He also attributed the deficit to the fact that the state pays for the construction of hospitals and schools over a five-year period after completion. Furthermore, the money used for urban transformation projects does not even earn a return, he said.
“The size of our assets, including receivables, has reached TL 19 billion. TOKİ’s total debt was recently reduced to TL 915 million. We really need cash. Despite that, we are not in a critical situation,” Bayraktar stressed. Instead of issuing securities or selling receivables, TOKİ prefers to borrow from public banks because the other options are less attractive. Last year the amount of money allocated to TOKİ from the Treasury was about TL 40 to 50 million, Bayraktar said.
TOKİ does not have any difficulty in obtaining loans from banks, he stressed, explaining that international credit rating agencies had upgraded TOKİ’s grade in line with the rise in the country’s credit rating. Moody’s increased TOKİ’s grade by one notch, from Ba3 to Ba2, while Fitch Ratings upgraded TOKİ’s foreign currency long-term credit rating from BB- to BB.
