Turkish Central Bank reserves total $112B in April

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) – Total reserves of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) amounted to $112 billion as of April 30, the bank announced on Monday.

Official reserve assets rose 1.5 percent, compared to $110.3 billion at the end of March, according to the Central Bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report.

In April, foreign currency reserves -- in convertible foreign currencies -- stood at $85.3 billion, marking a 2.3-percent increase on a monthly basis.

Gold reserves -- including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped -- fell 1 percent last month to $25.1 billion, compared to the previous month.

According to the official figures, the CBRT's total reserves recorded a 9-percent hike, compared to the $102.7 billion at the end of April 2017. Over the last decade, the bank's official reserve assets increased by nearly 45 percent.

In mid-December 2013, the bank's total reserves saw a historic high at nearly $136 billion, of which some $21 billion were in gold reserves.

- Liability side

The bank noted that short-term predetermined net drains of the central government and the CBRT -- foreign currency loans, securities and foreign exchange deposit accounts of residents abroad within the CBRT -- decreased by 7.3 percent last month compared to March, down to $11 billion.

"Of this amount, $6.8 billion belongs to principal repayments and $4.2 billion to interest repayments," said the Central Bank. "Regarding the maturity breakdown of the principal and interest payments, $1.2 billion is due in one month, $0.8 billion in 2-3 months, $9 billion in 4-12 months."

The CBRT report also revealed that contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency stood at $65 billion in April, dropping 2.6 percent compared to the previous month.

According to the bank's definition, contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency consists 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 CBRT’s balance sheet.