Turkey's central bank ramped up its use of swaps to boost overall reserves last month, it said in a balance sheet update on Friday, while separate data showed foreign assets held by Turks declined for a third straight week. The central bank's borrowing in the swap market with a maturity of up to one month was $9.6 billion in March, up from $150 million in February, it said.
The bank paved the way for the ramp-up last month by raising its total lira swap sale limit to 40 percent from 10 percent for transactions that have not matured. But concerns over the durability of the country's overall reserves resurfaced last week, putting pressure on the Turkish lira.
The central bank's gross forex reserves declined to $75.57 billion as of April 19 from $76.96 billion a week earlier, separate data showed. Forex deposits and funds including precious metals held by Turkish local institutions and individuals fell to $181.25 billion in the week to April 19, the data showed.