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The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) recorded $6.4 billion in net outflows during the week ending Sept. 18, while Turkish lira and foreign currency deposits increased amid a fund redemption crisis.
According to central bank data, gross official reserves fell by $4.3 billion to $174.4 billion as of Sept. 18. Gross foreign currency reserves declined by $5.6 billion to $62.8 billion, while gold reserves increased by $1.3 billion from $110.3 billion to $111.6 billion.
Swap-excluded net reserves dropped by $6.8 billion to $43.1 billion, while net reserves declined to $55.8 billion over the week.
Foreign investors sold $109.8 million in equities, $116.9 million in government bonds and $331.7 million in private-sector securities during the week of Sept. 14-18, according to CBRT data, bringing their combined outflow to $558.4 million.
On a price- and exchange-rate-adjusted basis, foreign investors had recorded $176 million in net equity purchases over the previous six weeks, while their net purchases since the start of 2026 stood at $1.6 billion. In government bonds, excluding repo transactions, they had recorded $203 million in net sales over the same six-week period.
Foreign investors had recorded $5.2 billion in combined net purchases of equities and government bonds in 2025, compared with $4.1 billion in net inflows since the start of 2026.
Separately, the total size of foreign investors’ Turkish lira-denominated derivatives positions with Turkish banks, linked to carry trade activity, had fallen by $2.1 billion to $58.9 billion as of Sept. 18.
Total deposits in Türkiye’s banking sector rose by ₺434.9 billion ($8.9 billion) to ₺33.9 trillion in the week ending Sept. 18, according to the banking data. Turkish lira deposits increased by 1.1% to ₺18.5 trillion over the same period.
In an earlier report this week, Goldman Sachs economists said Turkish lira deposits had risen by $12 billion as of Sept. 15, as investors appeared to shift money from money-market funds primarily into lira deposits rather than foreign currency or gold amid panic selling after some funds declared defaults.
Foreign currency deposits stood at $269.6 billion, with $230.8 billion held in accounts belonging to domestic residents. Their FX deposits increased by $2.7 billion from the previous week, or $3 billion when adjusted for exchange-rate effects.
Meanwhile, consumer loans held by domestic residents in the banking sector fell by 1.1% to ₺6.9 trillion during the week.
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