Consumer loan rates to decline, says Erdem Başçı

ANTALYA - Anatolia News Agency

Central Bank chief says consumer credit rates will continue to decline. DHA photo

Consumer credit rates will continue to decline, Central Bank chief Erdem Başçı said yesterday, suggesting that they would drop to single digits during the January-March period.

Speaking at an event organized by the Antalya Industry and Commerce Chamber in Antalya, Başçı said there had been a downward trend in consumer credit rates in recent months, with housing loans declining from 14 percent to 11 percent.

A similar downward trend can also be observed in automobile and cash credits.

Slowdown temporary

“A decline in commercial loans has become visible in recent months. This will continue and in the January-March period we forecast that they will drop to one digit,” Başçı said.

Touching on economic growth, Başçı said the slowdown was only temporary and that Turkey could easily attain the 4 percent growth rate in 2013.

“Four percent growth in this global environment is extremely good. If these problems are solved, Turkey could go back to 5 percent growth in 2014,” he said. “The situation about Turkey’s future is not that pessimistic.”