28 June 2018•Update: 28 June 2018
By Muhammed Ali Gurtas
ANKARA
Official reserves of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) totaled $107.3 billion as of May 31 this year, the bank announced on Thursday.
Total reserve assets fell 4.2 percent, compared to $112 billion at the end of April, according to the bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report.
Last month, foreign currency reserves -- in convertible foreign currencies -- amounted to $81.3 billion, going down 4.7 percent on a monthly basis.
The bank's gold reserves -- including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped -- dropped 2.4 percent to $24.5 billion in May compared to the previous month.
On a yearly basis, the bank's official reserves surged 1.7 percent, versus $105.4 billion at the end of May 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 1.8 percent in May, standing at $10.8 billion.
"Of this amount, $6.6 billion belongs to principal repayments and $4.2 billion to interest repayments," the bank said. "Regarding the maturity breakdown of the principal and interest payments, $1 billion is due in one month, $0.8 billion in 2-3 months, and $9 billion in 4-12 months."
The bank noted that contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency amounted to $62.4 billion last month, falling 4.1 percent compared to April.
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.
