New simplification steps from the Central Bank

The CBRT's Communiqué on Amendments to the Communiqué on Securities Maintenance was published in the Official Gazette, and a press release regarding the simplification of the macroprudential framework was also issued on its website.

Accordingly, the practice of maintaining 30 percent in securities for loans extended by banks, as well as the invoice-based lending practice, has been terminated to facilitate companies' access to credit. Previously, the invoice exemption limit for export, investment, and SME loans had been increased from 50 thousand TL to 250 thousand TL. With the new decision, no invoice requirement will be sought for any loan amount.

The practice of securities maintenance based on interest rates applied by banks on TL commercial loans exceeding 1.8 times the reference rate will be abolished. The practice of securities maintenance based on interest rates applied by factoring companies on factoring receivables exceeding 2.7 times the reference rate has also been terminated.

To support export loans, companies' capital goods imports will not be included in the calculation of the net exporter criteria. Thus, in the securities maintenance practice, access to export loans will be facilitated by preventing investment-related import expenditures from limiting net exporter status. The CBRT had previously revised the net exporter requirement for access to rediscount credits to exclude capital goods imports.

Furthermore, the practice of maintaining 30 percent in securities on securities issued by the real sector and purchased by banks has been ended.

SHARE OF TL DEPOSITS TO INCREASE

In line with data showing that transitions to TL are accelerating, the monthly TL share increase target for individuals, which was previously raised from 2 percent to 2.5 percent, has been increased to 3.5 percent.

The TL share increase target, which aims to increase the share of standard TL deposits within total deposits, has been removed from the securities maintenance practice and added to the practice of charging commissions on required reserves that banks maintain for foreign currency deposits.

MEASURES TO REDUCE FX-PROTECTED ACCOUNTS WILL CONTINUE

As part of the simplification steps, the securities maintenance practice regarding the renewal of FX-protected accounts or their transition to TL has been terminated, and the goal of gradually reducing foreign currency-converted FX-protected accounts will be managed more effectively through the commission practice. Additionally, if the transition to TL exceeds the set target, the excess portion will be counted toward the renewal target.

In its decision yesterday, the CBRT Monetary Policy Committee stated that the simplification process is progressing gradually, taking into account impact analyses, and that the monetary transmission mechanism will continue to be strengthened with additional steps aimed at increasing the share of TL deposits.

In the CBRT's press release on the simplification of the macroprudential framework, it was reported that technical details regarding the decisions would be included in the relevant regulations.

News Source: 12punto