Turkey’s Wealth Fund debt increased by 81 percent in 2019

Debt accumulated by the Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF) to the banking system increased from TL 75.4 billion ($10.2 billion) in 2018 to TL 136.4 billion ($18.4 billion) in 2019, an annual increase of 81 percent, local media reported on Thursday.

The data were presented by Zafer Sönmez, TVF‘s chief executive officer, to parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee in a classified report on Wednesday.

Sönmez also said there was an 11 percent annual rise in the fund’s equity “attributable to the parent,” which increased from TL 177.3 billion ($24 billion) to in 2018 to TL 198.4 billion ($26.8 billion) in 2019.

Current assets increased from TL 498.9 billion ($67.5 billion) in 2018 to TL 593.5 million ($80.3 billion) in 2019, while non-current assets grew from TL 676.7 billion ($91.6 billion) to 864.1 million ($116.9 billion) in the same period, he added.

According to Sönmez the fund’s revenue also increased from TL 249.5 billion ($33.7 billion) to TL 312.8 billion ($42.3 billion) between 2018 and 2019.

The CEO also said the fund made a 63 percent profit in US dollars from the sale of 10 percent of the İstanbul Stock Exchange (Borsa İstanbul) to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, for $200 million on Nov. 30, 2020.

The sale was part of 10 agreements signed between Turkey and Qatar when Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani paid an official visit to Turkey on Nov. 26 to attend the sixth meeting of the Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee.

The TVF was set up by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in 2016 as the national sovereign wealth fund to develop the value of Turkey’s strategic assets and provide investment resources. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2018 appointed himself chairman of the fund as part of a series of steps he took to consolidate new powers after winning the June 2018 presidential election.