Turkish Central Bank int'l reserves at $102.5B in Jan.

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Turkish Central Bank's official reserves stood at $102.5 billion as of the end of January, the bank announced Friday.

The January figures showed total reserve assets dropped 2.9% from the previous month.

Foreign currency reserves – in convertible foreign currencies – fell 4.7% to $73.5 billion during the same period.

Last month, the bank's gold reserves – including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped – dropped 2.4% month-on-month to $27.5 billion.

Meanwhile, on an annual basis, the bank's official reserves soared 5.9%, up from $96.8 billion at the end of January 2019.

- Liability side

Short-term predetermined net drains of the central government and Central Bank – foreign currency loans, securities, and foreign exchange deposit liabilities – posted a 8.9% monthly increase in January, reaching $17.1 billion, the bank said.

Of this amount, $12.3 billion were in principal repayments and $4.8 billion in interest repayments, the bank said.

The bank also said the contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency last month totaled $35.9 billion, up 3.8% from end-December.