Turkey: Central Bank reserves at $92.8B in April

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Central Bank's official reserves amounted to $92.8 billion as of the April-end, the bank said on Tuesday.

The figure went down 3.6% from a month earlier, according to a bank data.

Foreign currency reserves of the bank slipped 4.3% to hit $70.7 billion in April.

Gold reserves totaled $20.5 billion -- including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped--, down 1.5% during the same period.

On a yearly basis, official reserves of the bank went down 17%, when the figure was nearly $112 billion at the end of April 2018.

- Liability side

The data also showed that short-term predetermined net drains of the central government and the bank decreased 11% to reach $10.8 billion during the same period.

"Liabilities arising from the bank's financial derivative activities with resident banks and non-resident banks indicated a net stock of $14.9 billion, of which $11.9 billion is due in one month," it added.

Contingent short-term net drains on foreign currency in April remained stable on a monthly basis at $31.2 billion.

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 letters of credit items on the Central Bank’s balance sheet.