The Turkish central bank unloads gold at near-record prices

Since the outbreak of war between the US, Israel and Iran, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) has relied heavily on its gold reserves as a shock absorber against heightened financial volatility.

As shown in the first chart, the CBRT had either sold outright or swapped roughly 128 tonnes of gold (approximately 4.1 million ounces) as of April 3. By comparison, that volume is equivalent to about 40% of the total gold accumulated by all emerging market central banks in 2025 (i.e., 10.4 million ounces).

This is the biggest wave of gold sales in the country’s history, exceeding two previous episodes that we’ve also highlighted in our chart.

(In mid-2018, Donald Trump threatened to “destroy” the Turkish economy during a dispute involving a detained American cleric; in mid-2023, ahead of a presidential election, the CBRT sold a then-record volume of reserves to shore up the tumbling lira.)

As the central bank’s reserves shrink, we broke down the “price effect” of depreciating gold from the “sell-off effect” in our second chart. (The metal hasn’t behaved like a safe-haven asset during the current geopolitical crisis, partly due to speculative froth that kicked in during bullion’s multi-year rise to records.)

The CBRT’s total gross international reserves have fallen to USD 161.6 billion from a peak of USD 218.2 billion earlier this year. Meanwhile, as our third chart shows, net reserves (excluding FX liabilities and swaps) have fallen to USD 18.4 billion over the same period.

In summary, the CBRT uses gold as an active macro-financial buffer rather than a steadily accumulating reserve asset. The recent sell-off is therefore consistent with policymakers’ established pattern of managing external and financial stress, rather than a structural break.

This pattern is not observed across other EM central banks. The fourth and fifth charts present estimated daily gold reserves for India and Thailand, derived from nominal reserve data and gold prices alongside official monthly gold holdings. Neither country shows a comparable post-conflict drawdown: India’s gold holdings continue to trend higher, while Thailand’s remain broadly stable.

The final chart revisits the longer-term global context of central bank gold accumulation. While countries such as China and Russia have driven sustained multi-year accumulation cycles, Türkiye’s cycles of major purchases and sales stand out.