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assets.
In March 2019, TVF borrowed €1bn via a syndicated loan.
6.2 Debt
7.0 FX
Turkey FX
Dec-18
May-19
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan-20
Feb
Mar
Apr 25
USD/TRY (eop)
5.29
5.84 5.79 5.59 5.83 5.65 5.71 5.74 5.95 5.98 6.24 6.61 6.97
The lira has lost around 15% of its value to date in 2020. It weakened 11% in 2019, bringing its two-year losses to 36%.
In January, Turkey’s finance minister and the central bank governor confirmed that state banks were active in the FX market. They also unwisely talked about the level of the exchange rate that was tolerable, breaching a golden rule.
State banks tapped around $30bn in 2019 and more than $20bn so far in 2020 of central bank reserves in buying up lira, a Reuters analysis of the central
32 TURKEY Country Report May 2020 www.intellinews.com
