UPDATE - Turkish Central Bank reserves total $99.4B in July

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey’s Central Bank on Wednesday announced its official reserves amounted to $99.4 billion as of the end of July.

Total reserve assets jumped 3.1% in July, versus $96.3 billion at the end of June, the bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report showed.

Foreign currency reserves -- in convertible foreign currencies -- totaled some $74.4 billion, up 3.3% compared to the previous month.

In July, the bank's gold reserves -- including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped -- also rose by 2.8% on a monthly basis to $23.5 billion.

Meanwhile, the bank’s official reserves decreased slightly by 1.3% year-on-year, down from $100.7 billion at the end of July 2018.

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

- Liability side

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 -- dropped by 0.8% in July, staying at $17.1 billion, according to the report.

It said $12.3 billion of this amount was principal repayments and $4.8 billion was interest repayments.

The contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency totaled $36.1 billion in July, going down 0.6% from the previous month.

According to the bank's definition, the 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 the letters of credit items on the Central Bank’s balance sheet.