Turkish Central Bank raises reserve requirement ratios

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish Central Bank on Thursday raised the reserve requirement ratios for banks fulfilling real credit growth conditions in a bid to withdraw liquidity from the markets.

The Central Bank “decided to raise FX [foreign exchange] reserve requirement ratios for banks fulfilling real credit growth conditions by 700 basis points for precious metal deposit accounts and by 200 basis points for all other FX liabilities for all maturity brackets," the bank said in a statement.

Under the move, Turkish lira reserve requirement ratios were raised 200 basis points for all deposits and participation funds liabilities with a maturity of up to six months and other liabilities with a maturity up to one year, and by 150 basis points for other liabilities with a maturity of up to three years.

The move is expected to withdraw some 17 billion Turkish liras ($2.3 billion) and $8.5 billion of FX and gold liquidity from markets, the bank said.