ISTANBUL: Trkiye's banking sector posted a net profit of 603.6 billion Turkish liras ($20.57 billion) in 2023, the country's banking watchdog said on Thursday. The sector's net profit was up 39.8% on a yearly basis in 2023, according to data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA). The report showed that the total assets of the sector rose 64.3% year-on-year to 23.53 trillion Turkish liras ($801.66 billion) as of the end of December. Loans, the biggest sub-category of assets, were 11.67 trillion Turkish liras ($397.74 billion), up 53.9% compared with the previous year. On the liabilities side, deposits held at lenders in Trkiye - the largest liabilities item - totaled nearly 14.85 trillion Turkish liras ($506.12 billion), up some 67.6% year-on-year. The sector's regulatory capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio stood at 18.85% as of the end of last year, while the ratio of non-performing loans to total cash loans was 1.6%. A total of 60 state/private/foreign lenders - including deposit, participation, and development and investment banks - conducted banking activities in Trkiye as of December. The sector had 208,623 employees, serving through 10,949 branches both in Trkiye and overseas. Source: Anadolu Agency