“The method can be criticized and discussed; however, accusation of ‘corruption’ isn’t a right approach,” said Minister of Treasury and Finance Lutfi Elvan regarding the ‘USD 128bn’ debates.
Speaking during a televised interview with news channel NTV, Minister of Treasury and Finance Lutfi Elvan said transactions were executed through the Treasury accounts within the frame of the protocol signed between the Central Bank and the Treasury in 2017, regarding the USD 128bn foreign exchange (FX) reserves of the Central Bank.
Elvan also added that the Central Bank carried out FX purchase and sales transactions through the Treasury accounts via correspondent bank on the electronic transaction platform.
“TRY liquidity is created after banks make necessary payments to the Central Bank on this platform, which is naturally possible to see on the balance sheet. These movements can be observed on daily balance sheet of the bank. We haven’t executed such a FX transaction since November,” the Minister said.
“Data announcement would be useful,” Elvan said stressing that announcement decision is under the bank’s responsibility.
“TRY generated by FX sales provided to banks through Applications Programming Interface (API) and swap transactions,” Lutfi Elvan said, emphasizing that everything was legitimate.
The economy to grow by 5% in Q1
The economy is estimated to grow by 5% in Q1, which will also record two-digit growth with the base effect in Q2, according to the Finance and Treasury Minister.
Elvan also stated that internal savings aren’t sufficient for investments and that health growth, investment, production and employment can’t be mentioned in an environment, where prices are unsteady.
“The inflation matter should be considered with a holistic view, which can’t be settled only with the monetary policy,” he added.
Treasury and Finance Minister Elvan also said TRY 46.5bn is anticipated to be spent additionally for obligatory areas in 2021 due to the COVID-19, which aren’t included in the budget.
The world economy will also post a significant GDP growth in 2021 due to the base effect and this growth will reflect positively on Turkey, especially on the export side, according to Elvan.