Turkey's Central Bank reports 2023 loss of 818.2B lira

Turkey’s central bank posted a 2023 loss of 818.2 billion lira ($25.25 billion), showed its balance sheet published in the Official Gazette on Sunday, on the back of steep loss stemming from the “KKM” foreign exchange-protected deposit scheme.

The government has been working for months to exit KKM, launched in 2021 to stem a historic currency crash. Loss stemming from KKM prompted the central bank to pass on distributing profit to the Treasury in 2023.

The scheme helped reverse a trend of Turks flocking to hard currency and gold to protect savings after years of lira depreciation.

The central bank is now seeking to boost the share of lira deposits in the banking system. It started in August to urge conversion from KKM to standard lira accounts.

An independent audit report published last year showed the central bank posted a profit of 72 billion lira in 2022 and 57.5 billion lira in 2021.

The central bank will convene its general assembly on April 30 in Ankara to discuss 2023 results.