ANKARA: The Turkiye Central Bank’s net reserves fell around $1.2 billion last week amid strong local forex demand ahead of nationwide local elections on March 31, bankers said on Tuesday.

According to four bankers’ calculations, net reserves dipped some $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in the week to March 15, sliding from $20.84 billion a week earlier to about $19.6 billion.

The central bank’s total reserves declined by approximately $2.6 billion last week to just below $128 billion, the bankers’ calculations showed.

The figures showed that net reserves excluding swaps decreased by approximately $6 billion last week, reaching around minus $60 billion.

Turkiye central bank total reserves hit record high of $140bn

Last week net reserves fell despite a $4.6 billion increase in the swap amount made with local banks.

Bankers make the calculations based on the central bank balance sheet and leading data about the sector. The central bank did not comment on the subject.

Official data is announced on Thursday at 1130 GMT.