ISTANBUL, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The Turkish central bank"s net international reserves plunged to their lowest level since 2002 at $8.63 billion on December 24, from $12.16 billion a week earlier, according to data on Thursday that reflected recent market interventions. The exchange rate used by Reuters on Thursday was 11.4508. The central bank has announced five direct market interventions this month to stem a currency crash, which bankers say totaled between $6-$10 billion. There were no intervention notices since Dec. 17, though bankers have said the drop-off in reserves point to more state support for the lira. The latest draw-down puts net holdings below levels reached in April when they dipped below $10 billion. They then rose through most of the year before coming under pressure again after the bank"s December interventions meant to address "unhealthy" prices after a weeks-long lira crash. In 2019-2020, the net reserves plunged as the central bank sold off $128 billion via state banks to stabilize the lira, which has still steadily depreciated. Such sales emerged as a focus of what the political opposition calls government mismanagement, and some analysts say they have begun again this month though the government denies this. In 2019-2020, the central bank used swaps with local banks to backstop the FX interventions, an unorthodox policy that spooked foreign investors and local savers. Data showed the bank"s outstanding swap transactions stood at $49.770 billion as of Wednesday. The reserves are in negative territory once the swaps are deducted. Date Net international reserves(mln lira) Net international reserves (mln USD) 24-12-2021 98,788 8,627 17-12-2021 185,009 12,162 10-12-2021 291,008 21,175 03-12-2021 301,225 22,468 25-11-2021 295,997 24,666 19-11-2021 269,339 25,181 12-11-2021 283,702 28,608 05-11-2021 308,620 31,855 29-10-2021 309,505 32,643 22-10-2021 301,043 32,420 15-10-2021 293,621 32,119 8-10-2021 262,343 29,607 259,991 29,283 263,467 30,429 17-09-2021 239,596 28,388 10-09-2021 244,346 28,864 03-09-2021 230,185 27,856 27-08-2021 221,063 26,449 20-08-2021 219,401 25,778 13-08-2021 206,721 24,115 06-08-2021 214,728 25,184 30-07-2021 209,197 24,619 23-07-2021 202,511 23,797 16-07-2021 207,890 24,138 09-07-2021 201,983 23,252 02-07-2021 177,271 20,430 25-06-2021 181,101 20,914 18-06-2021 159,175 18,457 11-06-2021 127,313 14,923 04-06-2021 126,679 14,691 28-05-2021 104,881 12,438 21-05-2021 113,529 13,566 14-05-2021 105,396 12,719 07-05-2021 100,368 12,083 30-04-2021 97,807 11,964 23-04-2021 92,817 11,224 16-04-2021 85,288 10,585 09-04-2021 80,933 9,928 02-04-2021 87,247 10,678 26-03-2021 101,546 12,788 19-03-2021 101,979 13,675 12-03-2021 81,562 10,956 05-03-2021 86,249 11,573 26-02-2021 100,164 13,926 19-02-2021 84,462 12,148 12-02-2021 94,192 13,379 05-02-2021 100,001 14,021 29-01-2021 101,490 13,766 22-01-2021 82,148 11,126 15-01-2021 84,351 11,416 08-01-2021 99,097 13,625 01-01-2021 100,484 13,543 25-12-2020 118,321 15,530 27-12-2019 243,910 41,130 28-12-2018 159,352 30,130 Note: The figures are released every week on the central bank balance sheet as per a letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund dated 18 January 2002. The figures are released in Turkish liras and are converted by Reuters to U.S. dollars using the central bank"s official exchange rate from the previous work day.