Turkey's president on Wednesday dismissed an alleged $128 billion deficit in the Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves as inaccurate, criticizing a "campaign pursued over this figure.", APA reports citing Anadolu Agency.
"Neither the number is true, nor the meaning attributed to the number, nor the campaign pursued over this figure. Wrong from beginning to end. Ignorance from beginning to end," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
During his address in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said the reserves were neither given away to anyone nor wasted.
Erdogan claimed that developments in the global economy in 2019 and 2020 forced the Central Bank to make significant foreign exchange transactions.
"Especially 2020 was a tough year both for the world and Turkey," he said.
Financial measures taken by various countries to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic totaled $16 trillion and budget expansions by central banks reached $10 trillion, Erdogan underlined.
"This turbulent economic climate affected our country negatively, for sure," he noted, adding that the country's current deficit had widened while its income from tourism slipped.
Demand for foreign currencies rose during this period, driven by foreign capital outflows and the real sector's efforts to reduce its debts in foreign currencies.
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