AKP put whole country in debt, even Central Bank, Babacan says

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) created so much financial liability that even the Central Bank is in debt, Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) leader and former deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said. The Central Bank owes banks, markets and other countries a total of $140 billion in foreign currency and swap lines, Babacan noted.

Friday March 05 2021 02:32 pm

Duvar English

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has put Turkey in extreme amounts of debt, so much that even the Central Bank has liabilities, Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) leader and former deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on March 5.

"They did something that never happened to any government before. How could the entity which prints money owe money? They did that too," Babacan said.

The Central Bank owes banks, markets and other countries a total of $140 billion in foreign currency and swap lines, Babacan noted.

"They put the entire country, including our unborn children, in debt."

The government has also been withholding Central Bank records for foreign currency interventions, which Ankara engaged in plenty of in 2020, and still failed to prevent the lira from plummeting against the greenback.

"I'm asking the government? Why did you illegally intervene with the Central Bank? Why are you hiding the Central Bank interventions from the market?"

The last foreign currency intervention listed on the Central Bank's website is dated 2014, Babacan said, adding that the state is accountable to the public for the billions missing from the Central Bank.