Turkey Sells $8 Billion Worth of Gold in Two Weeks: Here's Why?

Sun Mar 29 2026

The Turkish Central Bank sold 58 tons of gold, worth over $8 billion, in just two weeks. Turkey's gold reserves fell by 6 tons in the week ending March 13, and then by another 52 tons in the week ending March 20, bringing total reserves to 513 tons – the largest drop in seven years.

According to CNBC, more than half of the gold was used to borrow US dollars through swap transactions, while the remainder was sold directly on the open market.

The gold sales also exceeded the outflows from all gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) globally, which amounted to approximately 43 tons during the same period, making Turkey the world's largest single exporter of gold.

This comes as the central bank is resorting to depleting its foreign currency reserves to support the lira, which is under severe pressure due to rising energy import costs and increased demand for US dollars since the start of the Iran-Iraq War. As a result, Turkey’s total foreign exchange reserves fell by about $40 billion to roughly $175 billion, their lowest level since the third quarter of 2015.

Rising energy costs are forcing Turkey to sell off its gold reserves. In the three weeks ending March 19, the central bank sold $26 billion worth of foreign currency, reducing net reserves, excluding swap transactions, to $43.4 billion, according to calculations based on official data from the research and consulting firm Burumcicci. Other independent economists estimate that net reserves have fallen by $34 billion since the start of the conflict.

Source: https://maaal.com/