Ziraat

Selçuk Bayraktar, chairman and chief technology officer (CTO) of Türkiye's leading drone maker Baykar, topped the list of highest-income taxpayers in 2023, the country's Revenue Administration said on Aug. 28.

Last year, 1.95 billion Turkish Liras ($52.4 million) of income tax accrued to Selçuk Bayraktar.

State-owned banks Ziraat and Halkbank have each issued statements denying allegations that they incurred losses during the recent period.

Ziraat noted that its finances are regularly disclosed to the public.

Türkiye Wealth Fund (TWF) has signed a $100 million Murabaha financing agreement with Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB).

This three-year term agreement marks the first Islamic finance transaction for the TWF.

Doğan Investment Bank acted as the financial adviser and coordinator for the transaction, the fund said in a statement.

Somalia has announced it had awarded licences to two foreign banks, including Türkiye's participatin bank Ziraat Katılım, as the nation opens up the industry to international lenders.

Ziraat Katılım and state-owned Banque Misr of Egypt and will become the first international banks to operate in the country, Somalia's Central Bank said in a statement.

The top executives of the three Turkish state lenders - Ziraat, Halkbank and Vakıfbank - have pledged to grant loans to Turkish businesses in a bid to support economic development and increase prosperity.

General managers of Turkey's three state banks met with businesspeople in the northwestern province of Bursa on Feb. 3.

Turkish state-owned lenders Ziraat, Vakıfbank and Halkbank have lowered loan interest rates between 50 and100 basis points on Nov. 19.

After the Central Bank cut its benchmark rate from 16 percent to 15 percent on Nov. 18, the three banks decided to follow suit.

Banks operating in Turkey have been obliged to submit a new long-term credit strategy plan and establish a separate unit to oversee it, according to a revised banking regulation published in the Official Gazette yesterday.

Three major conventional state-run banks in Turkey - Ziraat, VakıfBank, and Halkbank - posted 15.43 billion Turkish liras ($2.1 billion) in net profit last year.

The banks' net profit rose from around 10.5 billion Turkish liras ($1.8 billion) in the previous year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency from unconsolidated balance sheets and the country's banking watchdog.

Following Turkish state lenders' step to gather automated teller machines (ATMs) under a joint brand, a private lender has struck deals with two major private banks to offer expanded ATM services to its customers.

Ratings agency Moody's has said it has upgraded the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of 12 Turkish banks.