Turkish central bank’s direct intervention in the foreign exchange market on Monday was its largest so far, according to calculations.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey’s (CBRT) move came after the Turkish lira dropped as much as 7% on Monday to a record near 15 to the United States dollar, before rebounding after the intervention.
The monetary authority said it entered the market to sell dollars for the fourth time in two weeks due to “unhealthy price formations” in exchange rates.
According to calculations of bankers analyzing official data, cited by Reuters, the central bank sold $1.5-$2 billion in dollars on Monday alone, after sales worth $2.5 billion in the first three efforts.
Citing sources, private broadcaster Bloomberg HT said the intervention amounted to nearly $2.5 billion.
The central bank moved to keep the lira below 14 last week. The high volatility over the recent weeks came after the CBRT slashed its benchmark policy rate by 400 basis points to 15% since September.
On the other hand, annual inflation accelerated to 21.31% last month, the highest reading since November 2018, up from 19.89% in October, according to official data.
By 3:47 p.m. GMT, the lira had trimmed losses and traded at 13.79 against the greenback – its strongest point on the day.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held talks with CBRT Governor Şahap Kavcıoğlu, Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati and the heads of public banks in Istanbul.
The meeting lasted nearly five hours. Any decisions from the talks were not clear and no announcements had been made.
Forging on with the easing cycle, the CBRT is expected to cut its policy rate by 100 basis points to 14% this week, according to surveys.
On investor conference calls this month, Kavcıoğlu signaled the easing would likely pause in January after one more cut this month.
Kavcıoğlu has said boosting the current account, which showed a surplus of nearly $3.16 billion in October, was key to price and lira stability.
Erdoğan has repeatedly defended the low-rate policy, endorsing a new economic plan prioritizing economic growth, credit, production and exports. The government, regulators and the banks association have all rallied around the new economic policy.
He said last week that financial market volatility will eventually stop, blaming price increases on greed and import prices.
