Central Bank Announces Growth Limit and Blocked Ratio Regulations for SME Loans
As part of the steps taken to support small and medium-sized enterprises' access to financing, the growth limit has been increased by five points.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has amended its reserve requirement application, raising the growth limit for SME loans from 4.5 percent to 5 percent and lowering the blocked maintenance ratios for Turkish lira reserve requirements.
New Growth Limit in SME Loans
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has made changes to the reserve requirement application in order to support macrofinancial stability and banks' liquidity management.
Within this framework, the growth limit applied to SME loans, previously set at 4.5 percent, was raised to 5 percent.
Blocked Ratios in Turkish Lira Reserve Requirements
With the new regulation, blocked maintenance ratios for Turkish lira reserve requirements were also reduced and tiered according to the asset sizes of banks.
The blocked ratio to be held based on balance sheet asset size was reduced from 40 percent to 35 percent for banks with assets exceeding 500 billion liras.
For banks with a balance sheet asset size between 100 and 500 billion liras, the blocked ratio will be applied as 15 percent instead of 30 percent.
Evaluations by Minister Mehmet Şimşek
Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek evaluated the Central Bank's decisions in a post shared on his social media account.
Minister Şimşek stated that with these steps, banks' liquidity management will be strengthened and SMEs' access to financing will be facilitated.
Emphasizing that they are supporting the financial system and the real economy with macroprudential steps, Şimşek noted that the targeted approach prioritizing the disinflation process continues.