Turkey’s Central Bank said it will resume buying dollars through daily auctions starting Tuesday, taking advantage of a stronger lira to strengthen its reserves.
The Bank will buy $30 million a day with an option to purchase an additional $30 million, it said in an e-mailed statement from Ankara Monday.
International risk appetite has risen, increasing capital flows to Turkey and making “conditions right for the Central Bank to strengthen its reserves,” the statement said. The Turkish Lira has gained 18 percent against the dollar since March 9, when it hit a record low at 1.808 per dollar.
Mehmet Büyükekşi, head of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly, on July 23 urged the Bank to buy dollars to curb the increase in the lira, which he said is damaging exports. Central Bank Governor Durmuş Yılmaz said on July 29 he was considering a restart to the purchase auctions, which were last held on Oct. 15.
The lira weakened after the announcement, dropping 0.1 percent to 1.472 per dollar after rising as much as 0.2 percent earlier.
The Central Bank had reserves of $65.8 billion on July 24, according to the latest data. It sold $900 million for lira through daily auctions in March as the currency weakened against the dollar.
No comments:
Post a Comment