8 April 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Turks hoping to see returns from funds sitting idle in the bank generally prefer to keep a tight hold on their money by choosing short-term time deposit accounts, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) data show.
February figures from the BDDK regarding time deposit accounts, or accounts that offer interest-based returns for a fixed period in which the funds cannot be withdrawn, show that the largest share of these accounts have short-term maturities of one to three months. Out of the TL 527.5 billion in funds in time deposit accounts, nearly half, or TL 250.4 billion, is in time deposit accounts with one to three month maturities. Out of these short-term deposits, TL 154.7 billion has a maturity of a month, while TL 81 billion has no maturity and receives no interest payments. According to the data, only TL 17 billion has a maturity of three to six months and TL 8 billion has a maturity of six months to a year. Businesses also show the same preference for returns and liquidity, with half of the TL 107 billion they keep in time deposit accounts, or TL 53.4 billion, having a short-term maturity.
