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Türkiye's central bank reserves fell by $9.3 billion over the two weeks ending May 22 and May 26, while foreign investors pulled a combined $853.5 million from Turkish equities and government bonds, data showed.
Total reserves declined to $159.2 billion during the period. Gross foreign exchange reserves dropped by $8 billion to $53.2 billion, while gold reserves fell by $1.3 billion to $106 billion. Net reserves decreased by $6.3 billion to $45.8 billion, while net reserves excluding swaps dropped by $10.6 billion to $26.6 billion.
Foreign investors remained sellers over the two weeks, offloading $384.2 million in equities and $469.3 million in government domestic securities. Despite the recent outflows, they have remained net buyers of Turkish stocks since the start of 2026, purchasing a net $1.8 billion during the first 22 weeks of the year.
Most of the reserve drawdown took place in the week ending May 22, when a Turkish court annulled the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) 2023 electoral congress and suspended its chairperson. Following the ruling, the central bank stepped into currency markets, selling U.S. dollars to support the Turkish lira and limit volatility.
During the week, total reserves fell by $8.4 billion to $160.2 billion. Gross foreign exchange reserves dropped by $7 billion to $54.2 billion, while gold reserves decreased by $1.4 billion to $106.0 billion. Net reserves fell by $5.1 billion to $47.0 billion, while net reserves excluding swaps dropped by $8.5 billion to $28.7 billion.
Foreign investors remained net sellers, offloading $293.1 million in equities and $334.8 million in government bonds over the same period, bringing total outflows to $627.9 million.
Banking data showed total deposits in Türkiye's banking sector rose by ₺436.6 billion in the week ending May 26, up 1.4% from the previous week to ₺31.1 trillion ($676.5 billion).
Turkish lira-denominated deposits increased 0.3% to ₺16.5 trillion, while foreign currency deposits climbed 1.4% to ₺10.5 trillion. Total foreign currency deposits in the banking system stood at $270.7 billion, including $230.4 billion held by domestic residents.
Foreign currency deposits held by domestic residents increased by $1.5 billion during the week. Meanwhile, consumer loans extended to domestic residents rose 1.2% to ₺6.4 trillion.
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