Turkish central bank's reserves keep rising streak for new record
The entrance sign of the building housing the Turkish central bank, Ankara, Türkiye, Sept. 24, 2022. (Reuters Photo)


The gross reserves of the Turkish central bank reached a new peak in the week ending Jan. 30, maintaining a positive streak observed lately, largely boosted by soaring gold prices, official data showed on Thursday.

International reserves assets of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) climbed to $218.2 billion (TL 9.5 trillion) as of Jan. 30, according to weekly statistics released by the bank.

That compared to the previous record of $215.6 billion in the week ending Jan. 23 and $205.2 billion a week before that.

Like this, a weekly increase of nearly $2.6 billion, or 1.2%, was seen in the week to Jan. 30.

Foreign currency reserves – in convertible foreign currencies – were down 2.4% to $76.6 billion compared to the previous week. The bank's gold reserves – including gold deposits and gold swaps – climbed 3.4% to $133.8 billion in the same period.

The total IMF reserve position and special drawing rights (SDRs) also rose 1.2% to reach $7.8 billion, the bank said.

On Jan. 16, the bank's reserves crossed the $200 billion mark for the first time.

The CBRT, despite temporary fluctations, has been steadily building its reserves since a shift to more conventional economic policies in the middle of 2023.