31 January 2025

Turkiye amends regulation on utilization of foreign loans

  • A new Communique amends prior law by eliminating an exception that had allowed Turkish residents, in specific situations, to obtain loans from abroad without utilizing Turkish banks as intermediaries.
 

Due to a change in the law in Turkiye, Turkish residents must utilize intermediary Turkish banks whenever obtaining loans from abroad. This change became effective on 24 January 2025, when the "Communique (No: 2025-32/71) Amending the Communique (No: 2008-32/34) related to Decision no. 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency" was published in the Official Gazette.

Background

The Turkish Council of Ministers rendered a Decision on 3 January 2018 amending Decision no.32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency (the Decision). Additionally, a Communique (No: 2008-32/34), amending the Decision, was published in the Official Gazette on 24 January 2018.

Accordingly, the Decision stated that (1) Turkish residents were permitted to obtain loans from abroad and (2) these loans had to be obtained through banks. The Decision also listed the circumstances in which obtaining loans through intermediary Turkish banks was not mandatory. Specifically, the 2018 Communique provided that Turkish intermediary banks would not be required for loans obtained:

  • By Turkish residents in relation to their activities abroad
  • Under guarantees from export credit institutions or by export credit guarantee organizations and paid directly to the exporter abroad
  • For the importation of goods from foreign development banks providing cash-free credit support
  • For importing ships related to acquisitions from abroad

2025 Communique

The 2025 Communique has now removed the exceptions (listed above) to the requirement of intermediation of banks for loans obtained from abroad. Therefore, the types of loans listed above will now also be subject to the requirement of being routed through a bank in Turkiye.

These amendments entered into force upon publication.

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Contact Information

For additional information concerning this Alert, please contact:

Kuzey Yeminli Mali Müsavirlik ve Bagimsiz Denetim A.S., Istanbul

Published by NTD’s Tax Technical Knowledge Services group; Carolyn Wright, legal editor

Document ID: 2025-0370