Turkey Treasury, CBRT, SPK Move to Calm Markets

The Treasury said the Financial Stability Committee met under Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek on Sept. 17 and decided that all necessary measures would be put in place quickly to preserve market functioning and macro-financial stability. The central bank said it would increase weekly repo funding as liquidity conditions require, revise banks’ borrowing limits in the interbank money market and lower haircuts on eligible collateral.

The Capital Markets Board, or SPK, said it has already taken a series of steps and will disclose them on its website shortly. Regulators also said they will use enforcement powers against market-disruptive behavior, underscoring that officials want to separate liquidity support from any crackdown on trading practices.

For investors, the immediate issue is whether the stress remains confined to a handful of funds or starts feeding into broader selloffs in Borsa Istanbul, bank funding or the lira. The intervention bias should support sentiment in the short term, but it also raises the prospect of tighter scrutiny, faster rule changes and higher policy sensitivity around leveraged positions and fund liquidity.

The market backdrop makes the response more important. Borsa Istanbul had been trading with elevated turnover and strong domestic participation, while the central bank’s move to ease liquidity conditions suggests policymakers are willing to backstop funding markets if volatility persists.

The next catalyst is the publication of SPK’s measures and any follow-up from the central bank on repo operations and collateral terms. Traders will watch whether the steps are enough to stabilize funds without forcing broader de-risking in Turkish assets.