A total of 899 Turkish companies applied for debt restructuring in 2019, a decline in number over the previous year, when the country experienced a currency crisis, with the Turkish lira losing 30 percent of its value against the US dollar.
According to the Deutsche Welle (DW) Turkish service, only one company applied for debt restructuring in January 2018, but it reached a peak of 336 companies in November 2018, a few months after the lira had crashed against the dollar.
In the summer of that year, Turkey had a strained relationship with the US over the incarceration of an American pastor, who was later convicted of aiding terrorists but eventually returned to the US.
In December 2018 Turkey passed a regulation making it difficult for companies to apply for debt restructuring; however, the numbers showed no real decline in 2019.
At least 200 companies over the course of those two years, the DW report said, were unable to salvage their businesses despite restructuring.
According to experts, a typical debt restructuring lasts around 23 months, meaning that the real damage sustained by Turkish businesses after the currency crisis will be obvious by the end of 2020.