Turkish residents’ total FX deposits with local lenders edged up by 1% w/w to $153bn as of September 14 from September 7's $151bn, which marked the lowest level since March 2017, according to central bank data released on September 20.
Residents’ FX deposits saw a record high of $170.4bn as of February 16 while they stood at $165.4bn as of end-2017.
The central bank data also showed that total FX deposits with Turkish banks rose 1% w/w to $185.3bn as of September 14.
Total FX deposits stood at $201.1bn at end-2017 while they registered the record high level of $209bn as of February 16.
The government lately hiked its withholding tax on FX deposits while simultaneously cutting the same tax on lira deposits, in a move to encourage local residents’ lira savings and support the embattled lira. The move was announced in a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on August 31.