Borsa Istanbul converts all cash assets into lira

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s main stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, has said it has converted all of its cash assets into Turkish Lira to show its confidence in the country’s economy. 

Borsa Istanbul said in a written statement on May 23 that the decision was taken after a “thorough review on the real dynamic of the economy and harsh speculative moves in the foreign exchange markets.”

“After a detailed review on the Turkish economy, we have converted all bourse assets into lira with the exemption of the amount needed to meet our short-term needs, in order to show our confidence and support to the Turkish Lira,” read the statement.

However, it did not give any details about its foreign exchange-denominated assets.

The decision came as the lira has lost almost 15 percent of its value over the last month. The lira saw 4.84 against the greenback in the early Asia trading.

Meanwhile, this is the second time the main stock exchange took this step. In December 2016, Borsa Istanbul became the first institution to convert all of its cash assets into lira a few hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had called on people and institutions to back the struggling currency against the U.S. dollar.