Türkiye Spends $12 Billion Defending Lira After Erdogan Rival’s Arrest

Protesters hold a Turkish national flag as they clash with Turkish anti riot police using tear gas and water cannons during a demonstration in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor, in Ankara on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
Protesters hold a Turkish national flag as they clash with Turkish anti riot police using tear gas and water cannons during a demonstration in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor, in Ankara on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
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Türkiye Spends $12 Billion Defending Lira After Erdogan Rival’s Arrest

Protesters hold a Turkish national flag as they clash with Turkish anti riot police using tear gas and water cannons during a demonstration in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor, in Ankara on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)
Protesters hold a Turkish national flag as they clash with Turkish anti riot police using tear gas and water cannons during a demonstration in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor, in Ankara on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)

Türkiye’s central bank burnt through almost $12 billion defending the lira in a record intervention after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s detention of his political rival triggered a political crisis that scared investors and sent the currency reeling.

The bank spent $11.5 billion propping up the currency on Wednesday after the detention of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, the most prominent leader in Türkiye’s political opposition, said a person with knowledge of the matter and calculations based on official data by Burumcekci Research and Consultancy, the Financial Times reported.

It said the intervention was nearly four times larger than any previous such move on the bank’s official records.

It came after the lira plunged as much as 11% against the US dollar to a record low on Wednesday as Erdogan’s move against Imamoglu ignited a stampede out of the Turkish markets.

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One Turkish banker told the Financial Times that the officials had “lost control” of the market early on Wednesday, adding it had “left a scar” on investors’ confidence.

JPMorgan Chase, a significant player in emerging market finance, also noted “lira liquidity was impaired amid large outflows” on Wednesday.

Analysts say the central bank likely continued intervening in the market on Thursday and Friday. Policymakers have taken other steps to soothe markets this week, including holding an emergency central bank meeting on Thursday in which a key overnight interest rate was increased in an attempt to keep local savers in lira accounts rather than switching to dollars.

The actions have eased the lira’s decline, leaving the currency down 3% for the week, though Istanbul’s Bist 100 share index tumbled almost 8 percent on Friday in its worst week since 2008.

On Sunday, Bloomberg said Turkish central bank officials held a “technical meeting” with commercial lenders to prepare for potential market volatility after a key opposition politician was formally arrested.

The meeting discussed “the latest developments in markets,” according to a statement from the Turkish Banks Association.



Moroccan Utility ONEE Granted $340 Million in Loans for Energy Transition

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Moroccan Utility ONEE Granted $340 Million in Loans for Energy Transition

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Moroccan water and power utility ONEE said it has been granted 300 million euros ($340 million) in loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and German state lender KfW to support integration of renewable energy into the national grid.

The financing package comprises 170 million euros from the EIB and 130 million euros from KfW, the utility said on Friday, adding that the money will be used to expand its electricity transmission network by 730km.

ONEE plans to invest $19 billion in its electricity development plan through 2030, the year Morocco will co-host the World Cup soccer tournament, together with Spain and Portugal.

The plan aims to increase installed renewable energy capacity to 56% of the country's total electricity capacity by 2027, three years ahead of the 2030 target, according to Reuters.

Currently, installed renewable energy capacity stands at 45%, or 5.5GW.

ONEE said it will add 15GW of installed electricity capacity, including 12GW from renewable sources by 2030.

Last week ONEE signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates' TAQA to build a 1,400 km high-voltage transmission line with a capacity of 3,000 megawatts linking Western Sahara’s renewable energy sites to central Morocco.

Coal still accounts for more than 70% of Morocco's energy production.

Seeking to diversify its coal-dependent energy sector, Morocco began in April a tendering process to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Mediterranean port of Nador.