Turkish Central Bank reserves total almost $85B in September

By Gokhan

ANKARA

The official reserves of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) amounted to $84.7 billion as of Sept. 30 this year, the bank announced Friday.

According to the bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report, total reserve assets fell 4.7 percent in September, versus $88.9 billion at the end of August.

Foreign currency reserves -- in convertible foreign currencies -- totaled $65.5 billion, marking a 4.9 percent drop compared to the previous month.

Last month, the bank's gold reserves -- including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped -- declined by 4.2 percent on a monthly basis to $17.7 billion.

The bank’s official reserves decreased by 24.3 percent year-on-year, down from $111.9 billion at the end of September 2017.

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 CBRT -- foreign currency loans, securities, and foreign exchange deposit accounts of residents abroad within the bank -- recorded a 6.5-percent monthly hike in September, reaching $12.8 billion, the bank said.

"Of this amount, $8.7 billion belongs to principal repayments and $4.1 billion to interest repayments.

"Regarding the maturity breakdown of the principal and interest payments, $2.2 billion is due in one month, $0.9 billion in 2-3 months, $9.7 billion in 4-12 months," it added.

The CBRT also said the contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency totaled $29.3 billion in September, going down 19.6 percent 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.