Turkey gold imports surge as central bank boosts reserves

Turkey purchased a record $13.8bn of gold from abroad this year, $9.8bn more than in the same period last year, Bloomberg reported. The central bank has also increased its gold holdings to a three-year high, boosting its vault of precious metals by $7.5bn since December, according to official figures. The central bank’s action comes after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for Turks to use gold instead of dollars last November, in an effort to stem the depreciation in the Turkish lira, which has dropped another 7% against the dollar this year.