They emptied the state coffers before the elections

Before the May 14 elections, the government mobilized all state resources for the re-election of President Tayyip Erdoğan.

Treasury and Central Bank (CBRT) resources were used to the max to finance rapidly rising spending and suppress exchange rates.

TREASURY DEFICIT INCREASES 6 TIMES

The Treasury’s cash balance, before the election, posted a deficit of TL 159.1 billion in April and TL 417 billion in the January-April period.

The Treasury had a deficit of TL 66.8 billion in the January-April period last year and TL 43.7 billion in April.

TACK DOOR SALES TOP $30 BILLION IN APRIL

According to Bloomberg calculations, CBRT’s clandestine currency and gold sales exceeded $30 billion in April, breaking a monthly record.

In the period from December 2021 to April 2023, backdoor foreign exchange sales using CBRT reserves are estimated to have reached $177 billion in total.

CBRT’s net reserve position excluding swaps also declined to -$70 billion.

GOLD SALES OF MORE THAN 100 TONES OF CASE IN TWO MONTHS

In addition, the CBRT began to meet the growing domestic demand for gold from reserves rather than imports before the elections.

In the eight weeks between March 3 and April 28, the bank’s gross gold reserves decreased by 115.9 tons to 728.1 tons, net gold reserves including swaps decreased by 106 tons, to 507.4 tons, and net gold reserves, excluding swaps, decreased by 102.4 tons to 456 tons. .

ACCELERATED LOANS AND FOREIGN TRADE DEFICIT

With the increase in loans and spending before the elections, the import and foreign trade deficit increased rapidly.

Despite the restrictions on gold imports in the January-April period, the foreign trade deficit increased 33.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to 43.5 billion dollars.

There has been a record increase of TL 1.234 billion in TL loans since the beginning of the year.

In this period, the increase in consumer loans reached TL 420 billion.