Turkey extends FX-protected lira deposit scheme for a year

ISTANBUL: Turkey extended by a year a scheme that had it adopted in the throes of a 2021 currency crisis which protects lira deposits from depreciation versus hard currencies.

A presidential decree published in Saturday’s official gazette amended the deadline for opening new so-called KKM accounts to Dec. 31, 2023.

President Tayyip Erdogan’s government introduced the state-backed scheme in December 2021 to stem a historic lira collapse triggered by interest rate cuts that Erdogan had sought. The lira has still lost 29% versus the dollar this year but has held mostly stable since August.

Turkish budget payments into KKM stood at 9.3 billion lira ($500 million) in September.