In a report on the performance of the Turkish financial sector during the global financial crisis released yesterday by Deloitte, the main factors behind the Turkish banking sector’s successful resistance to the global financial meltdown were enumerated as its robust asset quality, capital adequacy, risk management and internal control systems.
Ayşe Epikman of Deloitte Türkiye, evaluating the report, remarked that the results prove that “the Turkish financial sector did not enter the global financial crisis.” Despite the economic meltdown, the Turkish financial sector managed to enjoy an increase in total assets last year, growing by 7.6 percent to reach TL 1.6 trillion in the third quarter of last year compared to the end of 2008.
Deloitte also predicted that the Turkish economy would grow by around 3.7 percent this year, with an anticipated acceleration in the growth rate in the coming years. According to the report, banks stand as the backbone of the Turkish financial sector, accounting for 79 percent of the overall sector. Three percent of the sector comprises insurance companies, while pension funds make up 1 percent and the assets of the Central Bank of Turkey account for 11 percent. The remaining 6 percent is made up of financial leasing, factoring, consumer finance, securities and real estate investment partnership companies.
Banks in Turkey registered record high profits last year, while their counterparts in the rest of the world -- especially in the developed economies -- encountered difficulties and posted huge deficits. The report stated that the total assets of Turkish banks expanded by a significant 14 percent to reach TL 834 billion in 2009. However, the report predicted a drop in profits this year. Despite this bright news, banks hired fewer employees last year, according to the report. The number of employees at banks grew only slightly, by 0.85 percent in 2009. Similarly, banks opened fewer branches during this period.
Only 3 percent more bank branches were opened last year, compared to 15 percent in 2008. The number of employees per branch decreased during this period, which was attributed in the report to the expansion of Internet banking.
Employees of participation banks saw the greatest increase in number in 2009, by 7 percent. This figure was 0.4 percent in deposit banks and 0.6 percent in development and investment banks. A total of 310 branches opened in İstanbul in 2009, while Samsun, Gaziantep, Amasya, Osmaniye and Tokat also saw their number of branches increase by more than one-fourth from 2008 to 2009.
