Turkey’s banking watchdog on Monday said it will raise the limit on banks’ Turkish lira transactions with foreign financial institutions in another normalization move amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) said it will raise the limit on banks’ Turkish currency placements, depo and repo transactions and loans with foreign financial institutions to 2.5% of their legal capital from 0.5%.

The authority said local banks’ overdraft lira loan facilities with foreign financial institutions are not considered part of this limit.

The move follows the BDDK’s decision last week to halt the calculation of banks’ asset ratios at the end of the year.

The move repealed resolutions set earlier this year under which it effectively led banks to lend more and buy more government debt to protect the economy from the fallout from the pandemic.

The asset ratio – calculated with a bank’s loans, bonds, swaps and deposits – was first introduced in April in the face of the outbreak.