CEO's Message

Esteemed Stakeholders,

International organizations predict that 2025 will see continued moderate growth in the global economy with baseline scenarios forecasting a steady decline in global inflation. Central bank rate cuts worldwide are expected to boost global demand in 2025. And projections suggest that global growth in 2025 will surpass that of 2024.

In Türkiye, the composition of economic growth in recent quarters has shifted towards net exports and investments rather than consumption, leading to higher-quality growth. Supported by effective monetary policies, our country’s economy is expected to achieve more balanced and sustainable growth in the coming years. As emphasized in the Medium-Term Program (MTP), we anticipate ongoing coordination in “Monetary, Fiscal, and Incomes” policies along with a period of greater economic stability that will be progressively more evident.

Meanwhile, normalized inflation rates and improved external balance indicators reaffirm the effectiveness of current economic policies. The significant decline in the Five-Year CDS, reflecting our country’s credit risk, the stabilization of exchange rates driven by increased confidence in the Turkish lira, record-high CBRT reserves, and growing interest from foreign investors in Turkish-lira assets have led to multiple rating upgrades from international credit rating agencies. Considering these developments, we expect increased interest in Turkish-lira assets from foreign investors, leading to improved financial stability from the inflow of foreign currency in the coming period.

Esteemed Stakeholders,

Through the Women Entrepreneurs Loan Package, introduced to support women entrepreneurs, we have provided 76 billion Turkish lira in financing to 235,000 women entrepreneurs so far. At Halkbank, we publicly launched the Productive Women Variable Fund, which focuses on gender equality, and initiated the second phase of the Women’s Path in Exports project. We are proud to see our entrepreneurs showcasing their products on international platforms, supported by our assistance to 100 women’s cooperatives last year. And this year, we continue to support women pursuing e-export opportunities. We are now accepting applications in five categories for the 4th Productive Women Competition, which aims to increase the number of productive women contributing to our economy. 

We continue to offer loans to foster the growth of our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Since 2021, our Bank has provided a total of 27.3 billion Turkish lira in support to 180,000 entrepreneurs of diverse ages and educational backgrounds. Entrepreneurs selected for the recent HUBrica Demo Day had the opportunity to present their projects to leading figures in the technology, economy, and investment sectors. With this event, we aim to identify innovative Fintech projects and support their expansion into global markets. 

Dear Stakeholders, 

As of the third quarter of 2024, Halkbank’s commercial loans totaled 1.3 trillion Turkish lira. SME loans constituted 54.8 percent of our commercial loan portfolio, with the number of tradespeople utilizing our loans reaching 807,000 and the loan volume rising to 263 billion Turkish lira. As we continue to support SMEs and entrepreneurs, we remain a leader in economic empowerment for tradespeople and artisans through our innovative financial solutions.

We are pleased to report that in the first nine months of 2024, our Bank increased its asset size by 31 percent compared to the end of 2023, reaching 2.9 trillion Turkish lira. Our Bank’s securities grew by 25.9 percent compared to the prior year-end to 736 billion Turkish lira, while our cash loans increased by 13.8 percent from the year end to surpass 1.4 trillion Turkish lira. Compared to 2023 year-end, our total loans climbed by 17.3 percent to 2.2 trillion Turkish lira, our deposits rose by 24.6 percent to 2.3 trillion Turkish lira, and our shareholders’ equity increased by 7.4 percent to 138 billion Turkish lira in the first nine months of 2024. 

Esteemed Stakeholders,

The international recognition of our efforts strengthens Halkbank’s global reputation. We have won a total of 10 awards — eight platinum and two gold — at the TITAN Business Awards, and 11 gold, five silver, and two bronze awards at the International Business Awards, including in the “Company of the Year - Banking” and “Company of the Year - Financial Services” categories. Our Bank has also received five gold awards at the Globee Awards, including its fourth consecutive Bank of the Year award. Additionally, we won two gold awards at the ARC Awards in the “Written Text” and “Interior Design” categories for our 2023 Integrated Annual Report. Our annual report was also recognized as the best in the world in the Written Text category.  We are proud to represent our country with these awards and thank the entire Halkbank family for their contributions to these achievements.

In the last quarter of 2024, we will continue to add value to our country and remain the Bank of tradespeople and artisans by advancing in energy efficiency, sustainable investments, digital transformation, and the circular economy, aligned with innovative business models and sustainable development goals. We would like to sincerely thank all our valued stakeholders for their support and our investors for their trust. 

Sincerely,

Osman Arslan

CEO

Türkiye Halk Bankası A.Ş.