The Turkish Central Bank has sold $25 billion of its foreign exchange reserves to ease market pressure and stabilize the Turkish lira, the bank's governor, Fatih Karahan, confirmed at an online conference with international investors on Tuesday, "Türkiye Today" reported, BTA reported.
At the conference, which was organized by the US-based bank "Citigroup" and the German bank "Deutsche Bank" (Deutsche Bank), both Karahan and Turkey's Finance and Treasury Minister Mehmet Simsek were present.
The meeting with international investors was held after market stability was achieved following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and several other opposition figures in Turkey on March 19. Investors from North America, Europe and the Middle East participated.
Karahan said that the Turkish Central Bank sold $10 billion on March 19 and another $3 billion on March 20, according to sources familiar with the meeting, quoted by the website "Economim". The highest demand occurred on March 22, prompting the central bank to sell an additional $12 billion.
Karahan assured investors during the call that the Turkish Central Bank would take all necessary steps to calm the markets. He described the turmoil as temporary and stressed that the government had implemented market-friendly measures in response.
In response to a question about dollarization, Karahan said that the currency preferences of local investors were largely influenced by the volatility of the exchange rate and the performance of the Turkish lira. He noted that while recent events initially sparked a surge in demand for foreign currency, this trend has begun to ease as the lira's performance has improved and market volatility has eased.
Regarding concerns about whether Turkey would maintain its real effective exchange rate-based disinflation strategy, Karahan stressed that the Turkish Central Bank's approach is not tied to currency movements.
Instead, he pointed to supply and demand dynamics as the key drivers, saying that "as demand conditions improve, we will see better inflation outcomes."
Karahan added that the value of the currency basket - a weighted combination of foreign currencies against the Turkish lira - has fallen by about 4 percent in the past month.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the main opposition force in Turkey, the Republican People's Party (CHP), has become a "plaything of marginal leftist organizations" and "bandits ravaging municipalities", Turkish state television TRT Haber reported, quoted by BTA.
"All kinds of sabotage against the Turkish economy, the welfare and peace of the nation will be held accountable in court," Erdogan warned in a speech to the parliamentary group of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), whose leader is the president.
"If you start making a series about corruption in the HPP municipalities in Istanbul, you will find more material than for a Brazilian series," he said, adding that "CHP corruption" has been exposed.
Addressing the opposition force, Erdogan demanded that it stop "terrorizing the streets", the Anadolu Agency reported.
"Some people are trying to cover up the gigantic corruption and bribery, but in vain. Neither the nation, nor the state, nor the judicial system will allow this disgrace to be covered up," he added.
The arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on March 19 as part of investigations into corruption and terrorism sparked a wave of protests in Istanbul and other cities in Turkey. However, in internal party elections on March 23, he was named the opposition HDP's presidential candidate. Imamoglu is currently in prison custody awaiting trial and has been removed from his post as mayor, and the Istanbul City Council will elect an interim mayor in his place at a meeting today.
The government categorically rejects accusations that the prosecution of Imamoglu and his associates is political.