Turkey’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Plunge to 20-Month Low in February

Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves posted a significant decline in February, raising fresh questions about the country’s external buffers and policy direction. The latest data, released March 12, 2026, covers the period through February 2026 and highlights a pronounced month-over-month contraction.

Chart Dynamics

February’s foreign exchange reserves fell to 62.77B TRY, a steep drop from January’s 73.43B TRY and well below the 12-month average of 77.89B TRY. This marks the largest single-month decline since May 2023. The reserves have now fallen for three consecutive months, with a cumulative loss of 23.43B TRY since December’s 86.20B TRY. February’s print is the lowest since June 2024.

What This Chart Tells Us: The sharp February drop signals intensifying FX intervention or external payment pressures. The three-month downtrend erodes confidence in Turkey’s external buffers, raising the risk of further market volatility if outflows persist.

Key Markets Reacting to Foreign Exchange Reserves

Movements in Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves ripple across global markets, influencing risk sentiment and asset prices. The following symbols, drawn from verified Sigmanomics listings, have shown sensitivity to Turkish reserve dynamics in recent cycles.

• AAPL (Equities): Indirect exposure via EM risk appetite and global tech flows.
• EURUSD (Forex): Correlated with TRY volatility and cross-border capital movements.
• BTCUSD (Crypto): Often sees inflows during periods of EM FX stress.

Turkey’s reserves drop signals renewed external pressure and heightened market vigilance.

Updated 3/12/26

This has been drafted with AI assistance and then thoroughly reviewed, refined, and approved by our human editorial team to ensure accuracy, and originality.

1. Sigmanomics Economic Data: Foreign Exchange Reserves, Turkey, February 2026. Data sourced from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and Sigmanomics database.