DenizBank has started to offer Chinese yuan-denominated rediscount credits and will provide this opportunity to Turkish real estate companies that conduct trade transactions with China. Ongoing developments for trade in local currencies in Turkey have reached a new phase as a result of mutual steps taken by Turkey and Russia in the last quarter of 2016; and the first currency swap conducted between the Turkish and Chinese central banks on Nov. 30, 2016.

DenizBank has been the first bank to issue yuan-denominated rediscount loans for the realty sector in cooperation with the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CRBT). The loan facility will be provided to Turkish real estate sector companies that trade with China.

DenizBank General Manager Hakan Ateş told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the bank has started providing rediscount credits in yuan, adding that loans in yuan apply to imports from China. Defining yuan as a "resource," Ateş stated that rediscount credits will boost Turkey's trade. Expressing his pleasure at DenizBank being the first to carry out transactions of this kind, Ateş noted that when yuan-denominated rediscount loans are used, the yuan liability is closed with a Turkish lira swap. So loan users tolerate nearly 10 percent of costs, which means finance is obtained cheaply.

In December, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that a new period is commencing with the use of local currencies in foreign trade. The president declared that future trade transactions with other countries would be carried out in local currencies. The CBRT has started to work with the Russian and Chinese central banks to prepare the necessary structure for these transactions.

The Turkish lira experienced a sharp loss of value against the U.S. dollar in the last year, especially in the period between November and February of 2017. The use of local currencies in foreign trade aims to ease exchange rate pressure on national currencies.