Turkish banking sector's Q1 net profits rise by 5.1 pct.

The banking watchdog said the total assets of Turkey’s banking sector amounted to 3.37 trillion liras, with an annual increase of 17.7 percent, as of March.

Loans given by banks - the biggest sub-category of assets - stood at around 2.2 trillion liras at the end of March, indicating a 20 percent rise on a yearly basis.

Deposits held at the country’s banks amounted to 1.8 trillion liras as of March, a yearly rise of 17 percent.

The banking sector’s regulatory capital to risk weighted assets ratio, a significant indicator to figure out minimum capital requirements of lenders, was at 16.56 percent in March, up from 16.04 percent in March 2017.

According to the BDDK figures, the ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans - another crucial indicator that shows how healthy the banking sector is - was 2.9 percent as of March this year, showing an improvement by falling from 3.21 percent in the same month of 2017.

Last year, the Turkish banking sector’s net profit hit an all-time high, reaching around 49 billion liras, a yearly increase of 30.8 percent.