Fıtch: Turkısh Banks To Face Tougher 2015

International credit ratings company Fitch, warned Turkish banks on a tougher operating environment in 2015, in an analysis released on Thursday.

Modest economic growth, competition for deposits and moderate asset quality deterioration would a tough operating environment for Turkish banks in 2015, but solid capital and profitability buffers meant the outlook remained stable, Fitch said.

"The sector's increased reliance on short-term, foreign-currency funding represents the biggest risk to the outlook" the company added:

"Our base case is for economic growth over the medium term to remain below recent highs, with ongoing but manageable interest- and exchange-rate volatility and continued access to international funding. Asset quality is likely to deteriorate due to seasoning of loan portfolios, increased consumer indebtedness and the depreciation of the lira, which may weaken the debt servicing capacity of foreign-currency borrowers."

High interest rates and competition for deposits would push up funding costs but margin pressure should only be moderate as Turkish banks had successfully re-priced loans in the past, fitch said and went on as follows:

"Turkish banks have steadily increased their foreign-currency liabilities. Foreign debt has almost trebled since the end of 2008 and has become more short term. This has significantly increased the potential impact of an abrupt change in investor sentiment that cut the banks' market access. However, we believe that under most scenarios foreign-currency liquidity would be sufficient." - Istanbul