Turkey's central bank became the world's largest official gold seller in 2026, selling about 81 tonnes net to defend the lira

According to reports carried by Turkish media, Turkey's central bank has become the world's largest official seller of gold in 2026. Over the first five months of the year the bank sold about 81 tonnes of gold on a net basis from its reserves, using the proceeds to supply dollar liquidity and defend the lira against external shocks.

Pressure on the lira intensified after the Iran war began on February 28, 2026, and the resulting energy-price surge drove the currency to a fresh record low. The central bank first spent roughly US$26 billion of its foreign exchange reserves supporting the lira and, when that proved insufficient, turned to selling and swapping more than 127 tonnes of gold in the weeks that followed; its currency interventions peaked at close to US$60 billion.

Turkey's gold reserves had climbed to a record 823.5 tonnes in the week ending March 6 before starting to decline. The trend shows that, rather than serving as a safe haven during the war, gold became Ankara's defensive tool for containing the lira's slide. The lira is an important regional variable for Iran's market, since part of the trade and commodity pricing between the two countries is linked to it.