Photo: Pixabay
Click to read the article in Turkish
Several economists have refuted President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's latest statement on Turkey's foreign currency reserves.
"Currently, our Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves have reached the level of 100 billion dollars," he told reporters at İstanbul's Atatürk Airport ahead of his departure for the NATO summit in Brussels. The aim is to increase the reserves to 135 billion US dollars, he added.
However, according to economists, the Central Bank's net reserves are still negative.
Citing calculations based on Central Bank data by a group of economists, Mahfi Eğilmez wrote on Twitter that the bank's gross foreign currency reserves were 93.7 billion US dollars, net reserves were 13.6 billion dollars, and net reserves excluding swaps were minus 56 billion dollars as of May 28, 2021. Prof. Veysel Ulusoy also shared the same figures.
Opposition parties and economists have criticized the government for draining the Central Bank's reserves in an effort to keep both the US dollar's exchange rate and interest rates low.
"Where is the 128 billion dollars?" has become a slogan of the opposition over the past months. While the government denies that such money was lost, its explanations have not satisfied the opposition and economists.
Erdoğan targeted the critics, saying, "You know, there are those who say the Central Bank's foreign currency reserves are declining, who are jumping for joy because of that, this plot is foiled now."
Turkey has sealed a new 3.6 billion-dollar swap agreement with China in addition to a previous agreement of 2.4 billion dollars, noted Erdoğan.
Merkez Bankası rezerv durumunu analiz etmek istersek diye…@mahfiegilmez pic.twitter.com/1163yV4jxz
— Prof. Veysel Ulusoy (@ekonomikanaliz) June 13, 2021
(HA/VK)
