President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday that the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey's (CBRT) foreign currency reserves should be between $150 billion and $165 billion.

The CBRT announced on Thursday that its foreign currency reserves currently amount to $113 billion. According to Erdoğan, although this number is a success considering the history of the CBRT, the bank has the potential to achieve higher numbers. Speaking at a ceremony at Kocaeli University, Erdoğan recalled that in the past the CBRT has a foreign currency reserve of only $27.5 billion, reiterating that the foreign reserve currently stands at a comparably good level. While remembering that when he left the prime ministry office in 2014, the foreign reserves were $136 billion, considering the fact that the world economy has been going through a recessive phase, Erdoğan found the current level positive.According to data released by the CBRT, as of May 6 gross foreign currency reserves stand at $99.53 billion while the total reserves of the bank are $119.03 billion.