İş Bankası CEO Hakan Aran stated that economic challenges will persist, albeit at a reduced level, throughout 2025. He emphasized that banks will continue to bear the costs during this period, with the deterioration in asset quality already beginning and extending to commercial loans. Aran also projected that inflation will reach 42% by the end of this year and decrease to 20% in 2025.
In a Reuters interview marking the 100th anniversary of İş Bankası, Turkey’s first national bank, Aran remarked, “We will continue to pay the price to achieve price stability and lower inflation. Banks will also pay this price, and asset quality will deteriorate. This year, we will overcome the decline in net interest margin, and next year we will face the deterioration in asset quality.”
Aran expects the Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) to initiate its first interest rate cut in November, with a 250 basis point reduction. He also forecasted that the USD/TRY exchange rate would be around 38 by the end of the year. He noted that the balance of exchange rate-protected deposits would decrease to $20 billion by year-end, with a greater emphasis on Turkish lira deposits.
Aran also highlighted the bank’s plans for growth through acquisitions and partnerships in digital banking and payment systems, predicting that these areas will represent a larger share of the bank’s revenue in the coming years.
