Turkish Central Bank reserves total $100.7B in July

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA

Official reserves of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) totaled $100.7 billion as of July 31 this year, the bank announced on Tuesday.

Total reserve assets rose 2.4 percent, compared to $98.4 billion at the end of June, according to the bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report.

Last month, foreign currency reserves -- in convertible foreign currencies -- amounted to $76.9 billion, going up 3.9 percent on a monthly basis.

The bank's gold reserves -- including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped -- dropped 2.5 percent to $22.3 billion in July compared to the previous month.

On a yearly basis, the bank's official reserves fell 6.4 percent, versus $107.6 billion at the end of July 2017.

Over the last decade, Turkey's official reserve assets rose nearly 45 percent. 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 -- showed a monthly fall of 0.6 percent in July, standing at $10.7 billion.

"Of this amount, $6.5 billion belongs to principal repayments and $4.2 billion to interest repayments. Regarding the maturity breakdown of the principal and interest payments, $1 billion is due in one month, $2.5 billion in 2-3 months, $7.2 billion in 4-12 months."

The bank noted that contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency amounted to $57.6 billion last month, falling 1.6 percent compared to June.

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.