Turkish Central Bank

The Turkish Central Bank on Oct. 21 lowered its one-week repo rate by 200 basis points, well above market expectation.

The policy rate- also known as the one-week repo rate- decreased to 16% from 18%, the bank said in a statement following its 10th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting this year.

TUSIAD President Simone Kaslowski. Photo: TUSIAD

"The independence of regulatory and supervisory institutions, the Central Bank in particular, should be unquestionable," Tuncay Ozilhan, president of the Advisory Council of TUSIAD said at a TUSIAD event.

The Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) increased by 3.9 percent month on month in August, the Turkish Central Bank said in a monthly report on Oct. 18.

The index "recorded an annual increase of 33.4 percent in nominal terms and 11.9 percent in real terms," it said.

The Turkish private sector's outstanding foreign loans in August totaled $173.4 billion, up slightly by $50 million compared to end-2020, the Turkish Central Bank announced on Oct. 14. 

The short-term loans-excluding trade credits- of the sector received from abroad were at $8.9 billion as of August, down $835 million from the end of last year.

The Turkish Central Bank's total reserves stood at $117.8 billion in August, marking an 11.3% increase compared to the previous month, the bank announced on Sept. 28. 

Official reserve assets jumped 11.3%, according to the bank's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity report.

Turkey's net international investment position (NIIP) continued recovering this July, with the overall figure being 26.2 percent lower than at the end of last year, the Turkish Central Bank said on Sept. 20.

The country's external assets grew 10.3 percent to $282 billion, while its liabilities against non-residents fell 11.8 percent to $572 billion, the latest data showed.

The Turkish Central Bank's total reserves rose by $944 million to hit $120.1 billion last week, for the first time since November 2016.

According to weekly money and bank statistics published by the bank, the gross foreign exchange reserves increased by $1.6 billion to $79.6 billion on Sept. 10, from $78.5 billion on Sept. 3.

The Turkish private sector's outstanding external loans stood at $173.3 billion in July, decreasing by $130 million compared to the end of 2020, the Turkish Central Bank said on Sept. 15. 

Excluding trade credits, the sector's short-term loans received from abroad were at $9.5 billion in July, down $240 million from the end of last year.

The Turkish Central Bank signed an agreement with defense and technology firms Aselsan and Havelsan, and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for the research, development and testing processes of potential digital Turkish lira.

Turkey's current account balance posted a deficit of $683 million, down $1.3 billion from the same month last year, the Turkish Central Bank announced on Sept. 13.

With July figures, the current account deficit saw its eleven-month low.

According to the balance of payments figures released by the bank, the country's 12-month rolling deficit totaled almost $27.8 billion.