The debt stock Turkish consumers owed to commercial banks in Turkey stood at a total of 165 billion TL as of year end 2010, said a local group for consumer rights, Anadolu News Agency reported.
Out of that sum, 123 billion TL was loan debts and 42 billion TL was credit card debts, said Nazim Kaya, chairman of the Union of Consumers.
Kaya said credit cards debts had increased 68 percent in four years from 25 billion TL, adding that non-performing credit card debts was up 110 percent in the same period from 2 billion TL to 4.2 billion TL.
Kaya said consumer loans grew by 121 percent in four years from 58 billion TL, adding that non-performing consumer loans surged 580 percent in the same period from 700 million TL to 4 billion TL. (One TL equals 0.6406 USD).