CHP leader keeps asking about the fate of Central Bank reserves

Photo: CHP/Twitter

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has once again asked the government what happened to the Central Bank's 128 billion dollars of foreign exchange reserves.

Speaking behind a banner reading "Where is 128 billion dollars?" at his party's parliamentary group today (April 13), Kılıçdaroğlu remarked, "In the past, the Central Bank would publish the foreign exchange it sold on its website. It doesn't do it now."

Opposition parties and economists have criticized the government for draining the Central Bank reserves in order to keep the exchange rate of the US dollar low during the spell of Berat Albayrak, the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as the finance minister.

The amount of money that is estimated to be sold during these efforts is 128 billion dollars. Therefore, "Where is 128 billion dollars" has become a slogan of the opposition, often seen in Twitter's trending topics over the past months.

Erdoğan made contradicting statements rejecting the estimates that the Central Bank's net foreign currency reserves are negative. On February 22, he said the ank had 95 billion dollars in reserves while he said on February 24 that the money was used in the "fight against the coronavirus pandemic."

"He first said it's in the safe, then said 'We used it in the pandemic.' They are lying," Kılıçdaroğlu said.

"Some say the money has not disappeared, it has changed hands. That's what I'm asking, to whom did this money go?" said Kılıçdaroğlu. (AS/VK)