Exterior view of the headquarters of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB) in Ankara, Türkiye, accessed on June 21, 2025. (AA Photo)
June 21, 2025 10:49 AM GMT+03:00
The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) has introduced a series of macroprudential adjustments aimed at boosting the transition to the Turkish lira (TL) and enhancing the effectiveness of monetary transmission mechanisms.
Among the key changes, the central bank announced Friday that it will now allow the opening of variable-rate TL deposit accounts with maturities longer than one month.
Previously, this option had only been available for deposits longer than three months.
Photo illustration shows a person holding a smartphone displaying the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye’s official website in Stuttgart, Germany, on June 24, 2024. (Adobe Stock Photo)
To reinforce liraization, the CBRT increased the target ratios for banks whose share of TL deposits remains below 60%.
For those with the lira deposit ratios between 60% and 65%, the central bank introduced a monthly growth target of 0.4 percentage points.
These measures are designed to push banks further toward local currency holdings.
In a step expected to reinforce monetary tightening, the CBRT raised the required reserve ratio for FX-protected lira deposits from 33% to 40%.
At the same time, it lowered the minimum interest rate for these accounts from 50% to 40% of the policy rate.
While the specific sub-target for shifting out of FX-protected deposits was removed, the broader transition goal toward standard TL deposits remains in place.
The CBRT also set a uniform required reserve ratio of 10% for all maturities of TL deposit accounts indexed to inflation indicators such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI)or TLREF (Turkish Lira Overnight Reference Rate).
Meanwhile, the reserve requirement for foreign currency deposits that must be held in TL was reduced from 4% to 2.5%.
These measures come in the context of the central bank’s decision on Thursday to keep its policy rate unchanged at 46%.
Despite this, the average deposit rate across the system stood at a significantly higher 56.6% for the week ending June 13providing investors with relatively secure and elevated returns.
June 21, 2025 10:49 AM GMT+03:00
