Claims that the net reserves of the Central Bank could turn negative for the first time in 21 years have proven to be true. The latest report published by the Central Bank confirms economists’ calculations. The net reserves of the Central Bank fell into negative territory for the first time in 21 years.
Financial markets expert İris Cibre shared her thoughts on the matter, stating, “Week of May 18th. Excluding swaps, the net reserve decreased to $60.3 billion. Net international reserves turned negative for the first time since 2002, reaching -$148.9 million. Gold sales since the week of April 14th amounted to $10 billion. Exchange rate interventions since the same week amounted to $15.6 billion. Troubled times…”
Former Chief Economist of the Central Bank, Prof. Dr. Hakan Kara, stated that calculating net reserves without considering swaps holds no meaning. Kara wrote, “Despite our persistent explanations, I still see ‘net’ reserve tweets that do not take swaps into account. The concept of net reserves alone does not carry significant meaning, but if we insist on using it, let’s use the correct net reserve. The net reserve of the Central Bank is not -$0.2 billion, but -$60.3 billion.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) has released the “Weekly Money and Banking Statistics” for the week of May 18th. According to the data, the Central Bank’s gross reserves decreased by $3.5 billion last week, reaching $101.59 billion. The foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank declined by $2 billion to $58.825 billion.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES DECREASED BY 29%
The gold reserves also decreased by $1.6 billion, reaching $42.765 billion. In 2023, the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves decreased by $24.1 billion (29.04%) and gold reserves decreased by $2.9 billion (6.73%). The net reserves of the Central Bank fell by an additional $2.5 billion last week, reaching a negative value. The net reserves of the TCMB are at -$0.2 billion.
As a result, the net reserves of the Central Bank turned negative for the first time since 2002. The net reserves excluding swaps were calculated as -$60.3 billion, indicating a decline.
Source: politurco.com
