Lira deposit rates hit three-year low as consumer lending slows

According to Bloomberg HT's calculation based on CBRT data, the 1–3 month lira deposit rate stood at 37.3% on 4 September and fell a further 0.4 points over 3 weeks. The same source put the 2025 peak at 47.7% in its 4 September report but at about 50% in its 2 October report; the 2 figures conflict. The commercial loan rate, excluding overdraft accounts and corporate cards, eased from 40.8% on 4 September to 39.9% in the week of 25 September.

On the lending side, the speed of the slowdown stands out. The 13-week annualised growth in consumer loans, meaning the increase over the past 3 months converted to an annual rate, peaked at 62.5% in January. According to Forbes Türkiye, the rate fell to 16.9% on 18 September, and according to Bloomberg HT it fell to 14.3% on 25 September. That is a drop of 48.2 points since the start of the year. Commercial loan growth rose from a trough of 16.1% in July to 23.3% on 18 September, then eased to 21.4% on 25 September.

The data coincide with the week in which the fund investigation spread to the banking sector. Banks Association of Türkiye (TBB) chairman Alpaslan Çakar said on 2 October that the fund issue remained numerically limited. He said he did not expect any negative spillover to banking. Çakar said the CBRT's decision to raise the SME loan growth cap from 4.5% to 5% was unrelated to the fund crisis. He added that problems accessing liquidity were affecting SMEs rather than large companies.