Turkey: Central Bank reserves at $86.7B in March

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – The Turkish Central Bank’s reserves amounted to $86.7 billion at the end of March, the bank announced on Wednesday.

Total reserve assets fell 9% from the previous month, according to the bank’s international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report.

Foreign currency reserves – in convertible foreign currencies – totaled $46.2 billion, dropping 12.9% from February.

In March, the bank’s gold reserves fell 4.3% on a monthly basis to $38.9 billion.

Short-term predetermined net drains of the government and the central bank, including foreign currency loans, securities, and foreign exchange deposit liabilities, declined by 12.5% to stand at $26.8 billion, the report said.

Of these, almost $21.4 billion were in principal repayments and $5.4 billion in interest payments.

Additionally, outstanding foreign exchange and gold liabilities arising from the central bank's financial derivative activities with resident and non-resident banks stood at $59.8 billion, of which $20.7 billion is due in one month, the report added.