Rapid credit expansion and firm behavior: A case study from Türkiye

Abstract

This study examines the impact of a sudden and remarkable credit expansion experienced in Türkiye during the first half of 2022 on firm behavior by utilizing a novel dataset containing the universe of all incorporated firms in Türkiye. The results of the combination of coarsened exact matching and difference-in-differences methodology show that, amid the credit expansion coupled with the deterioration in expectations of inflation and depreciation in local currency, the firms with higher credit usage tended to engage in alternative channels rather than undertaking real economic activities in short term, such as pulling-forward imports and input demand and taking position against local currency to gain financial profit more than those with less credit usage during the first half of 2022. While SMEs with higher credit usage increased their imports, domestic input purchases, foreign currency purchases, and foreign currency-denominated debt settlement before maturity, large firms increased their foreign currency purchases relative to their counterparts with less credit usage.