Turkish Central Bank to support converting bank accounts’ currency into lira

The Central Bank of Turkey has decided to provide assistance to individuals and legal entities and stimulate the conversion of their bank accounts’ currency into lira, Report informs referring to Turkish media.

“The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has decided to support the holders of deposit and equity accounts in the event that deposits and equity funds of local legal entities denominated in foreign currency and gold are converted into time deposit accounts in Turkish lira at the request of the account holder,” the statement said.

Also, according to the statement, if the accounts of foreign exchange and gold deposits and participation funds of resident individuals are converted into time deposit accounts in Turkish lira, support will be provided to holders of such deposits.

“In addition, it was decided to provide support to holders of deposits and participation funds in the event of converting deposit accounts and participation funds of resident legal entities denominated in foreign currency and gold into time deposits and participation funds in Turkish lira,” reads the statement.

The discount rate in Turkey was reduced several times affecting the exchange rate of the national currency. The 18% collapse of the lira on November 23 was the highest in the last 20 years. The dollar exchange rate reached a record 18.4 lira on December 20, against 7.4 lira in January last year.