Turkish central bank gross reserves rose $7.5bln last week, traders and data say
ANKARA - Turkey's central bank bought more foreign currency last week, lifting its total reserves by a further $7.5 billion after sharp declines in March and April, bankers' calculations from data showed on Tuesday.
Market turmoil in March over the detention and jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, triggered a policy pivot, including a hike in the bank's key interest rate last month.
Bankers' calculations, based on preliminary data, also showed that the central bank's net reserves rose by $8 billion last week to $48 billion.
The central bank bought some $13 billion in the last three weeks, data showed, marking a reversal after it had sold some $57 billion to help stabilize the lira and other financial markets in the face of the turmoil.
Separately, overnight interest rates, which had dropped briefly to the main policy rate level of 46% on Friday, returned this week to 49%, at the upper band of the rate corridor that was also earlier raised to head off market turmoil.
Traders are closely monitoring whether overnight rates will hover close to the upper band of the rate corridor - 49% - in the coming days, for further signals on the policy path ahead.
Bankers have said that lowering overnight market rates would be a necessary step before the central bank resumes its easing cycle, which began in December but was reversed in April in the wake of the mayor's arrest and jailing.
The bank's next two scheduled policy meetings will be on June 19 and July 24.
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