Turkey’s gold reserves plunge by 118 tons in 2 weeks amid market pressure: report
Turkey’s gold reserves fell by 69.1 tons in the week ending March 27, bringing the two-week decline to more than 118 tons as authorities used reserves to limit pressure on the lira and ease market fallout from the Iran war, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing central bank data.
According to the report the Turkish Central Bank’s gold reserves dropped to 702.5 tons last week, marking the largest weekly decline in its international standard gold reserves since at least 2013, when the bank began publishing the data.
Reuters, citing calculations by three bankers, said about 26 tons of gold were sold by the central bank last week while another 42 tons were used in swap transactions. The central bank did not comment on those calculations.
The report said the reserve losses followed a 49.3 ton decline the previous week and reflected broader efforts by Turkish authorities to support the lira and maintain market liquidity as the regional war pushed global energy prices higher.
Before investor meetings in London this week, Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan defended the use of gold-backed transactions when foreign exchange liquidity is needed. He told the state-run Anadolu news agency that the bank was pursuing a “proactive, flexible, and controlled” approach to reserve management and liquidity tools.
