Turkey’s central bank cut reserve requirement ratios for the third time since July’s failed coup attempt as part of moves to boost liquidity, the bank said on September 6.

The changes could provide up to TRY1.2bn (€366mn) and $670mn of liquidity to the financial system if banks adopt the new ratios. Lira reserve requirement ratios were lowered by 50 basis points. The change means that banks now will be required to keep 11% of their lira liabilities of up to a year’s maturity on hand to cover for potential losses, a decrease from 11.5% previously.

The bank also said it is adjusting reserve option coefficients for some of its foreign exchange and gold facilities. “In the context of Reserve Options Mechanism, coefficients for the second, third and fourth tranches of the FX facility and for the first three tranches of the gold facility have been increased by 0.1,” the bank said in a statement on its website.

Following the better-than-expected August inflation data, analysts now expect further easing from the central bank, which has been under pressure from politicians to cut rates to stimulate economic activity and boost domestic demand. The bank last month cut its overnight lending rate for the sixth month in a row. The next rate-setting meeting will take place on September 22.

In a separate statement on September 6, the bank pointed to a decline in unprocessed food prices as the main reason behind the fall in August inflation. Unprocessed food prices were down 4.4% m/m, while fresh fruit and vegetable prices fell by 11.5% m/m in August.