During the same period, the number of foreign banks with subsidiaries or branches in Turkey increased from four to 20. As of November 1998, 60 banks out of 74 are universally commercial banks and the remaining 14 are development and investment banks. Thirty-six of these banks are commercial banks whose majority shares are privately owned; 20 are foreign banks established in Turkey or having branch offices in Turkey; and 14, as noted above, are development and investment banks. As of November 1998, Turkish banks now operate though their 7,062 local branches. More than 165,000 persons are employed in the banking sector. In addition, the Turkish banking system is aggressively modern, adopting every banking innovation rapidly. Turkish banks, operating in parallel with the process of internationalization and globalization, have gone one step further by starting to invest in foreign financial establishments as well. Turkish banks are now able to form joint ventures with foreign banks to open financial subsidiaries and branches abroad. As of November 1998, Turkish banks had 63 financial subsidiaries in 19 different countries, and 26 branches in 10 different countries. As of November 1998, the size of the consolidated balance sheet of the banking sector was $ billion. According to our peer group classification by ownership, public and private banks both have significant shares in the sector.
As I pointed out in my brief remarks on the financial standing of the banking sector, Turkish banks have reached a level of financial and institutional development that should not be underestimated. But despite all the aforementioned positive aspects, there are also various threats to the wellbeing of the Turkish banking sector which I believe are worth mentioning. Turkish banks, like all the other banks in the world, are exposed to credit risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk and foreign exchange risk. This is true even in the absence of an environment of global crisis and macroeconomic risks stemming from political uncertainties. These are other issues that merit separate consideration. I will turn now to financial risks. The most important of these is credit risk, which Turkish banks pay the most attention to managing. The Turkish banking sector has become used to accepting and managing credit risk over the years. A credit culture has been developed in which firms, sectors, regions and individuals participate. Increased competition in the sector clearly has implications for the risk-taking process, which requires that the banks restudy their credit strategy. An overall examination of credit risk showed that the banking sector has been able to manage its credit risks by keeping the level of non-performing loans low in spite of an environment of shrinking international financing.