Turkish Central Bank reserves at $98.4B in June

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA

Official reserves of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) totaled nearly $98.4 billion as of June 29, the bank reported on Friday.

Total reserve assets slipped 8.3 percent, compared to $107.3 billion at the end of May, according to the bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report.

Last month, foreign currency reserves -- in convertible foreign currencies -- amounted to $74 billion, down 8.9 percent on a monthly basis.

CBRT's gold reserves -- including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped -- also dropped by 6.8 percent to $22.8 billion in June compared to May.

On a yearly basis, the bank's official reserves saw a decline of 9 percent, versus $108.7 billion at the end of June 2017.

In mid-December 2013, the bank's total reserves hit their all-time peak at nearly $136 billion, including some $21 billion in gold reserves.

Liability side

The bank also reported that short-term predetermined net drains of the central government and the Central Bank -- foreign currency loans, securities, and foreign exchange deposit accounts of residents abroad within the bank -- slightly decreased 0.4 percent in June on a monthly basis, standing at $10.7 billion.

"Of this amount, $6.5 billion belongs to principal repayments and $4.2 billion to interest repayments" the bank said.

The bank noted that contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency amounted to $58.5 billion last month, falling 6.2 percent compared to May.

According to the bank's definition, contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency consist of “collateral guarantees on debt due within one year” and “other contingent liabilities," which are the banking sector’s required reserves in blocked accounts in foreign currency and gold, and letters of credit items on the Central Bank’s balance sheet.