Investors exchange gold weighing as much as 2 trucks

Investors who prefer real estate and foreign currencies instead of gold due to price fluctuations exchanged TL 5.6 billion ($1.9 billion) worth of gold in 2015. According to information compiled by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), as of 2014 gold deposits held by banks equaled TL 16.3 billion, but price fluctuations caused investors to choose other investment tools, and gold deposits in banks dropped to TL 10.6 billion by the end of 2015. This figure corresponds to 54.94 tons of gold, if the average price per gram of gold is taken as TL 102.40, the average price of gold in 2015. In other words, since trucks can weigh up to 30 tons, investors exchanged gold weighing almost as much as two trucks in 2015. Instead of gold, investors preferred real estate as shown by the new historically high sales record in Turkey (around 10.6 percent) - 1.3 billion in real estate sales. Foreign currency deposits in banks increased by 124 billion deposits in a year.

Istanbul Gold Refinery (IAR) CEO Özcan Halaç said that currently buying gold is not as profitable as selling, but he advised investors to keep a certain amount of gold in their portfolios, as it is normal for trends to change in gold as an investment tool. "The biggest surprises were observed in the price of gold in the last seven to eight years; therefore, the surprises may continue. It is hard to make any estimations and predictions," Halaç said. On projections from some gold and monetary market experts claiming that the price of gold per gram could increase to $41, Halaç said, "Anything is possible with gold."

İş Investment's investment banking analyst Kutluğ Doğanay said that in the stage when gold prices were decreasing, investors tried to make a profit by selling their gold stocks and purchasing automobiles and properties instead, while some preferred to benefit from fluctuations in the foreign exchange market. He added that there is definitely a portion reserved for the payment of debts.