The Turkish Central Bank's net international reserves rose by $6 billion last week to $25 billion after a $5 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia entered its accounts. The central Bank's gross reserves rose $6.5 billion to $126.5 billion in the same period, Reuters quoted three bankers as saying. The Bank took a new step to protect the declining Turkish lira and prevent an increase in dollar prices less than two months before the presidential and parliamentary elections in May. Turkish media confirmed, on Tuesday, that the reserves increased this week compared to last week. The bankers told Reuters last week that the deposit provided by the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) entered the accounts of the Turkish Central Bank at the beginning of last week. Last summer, Türkiye's net foreign exchange reserves rebounded from just over $6 billion, which were at their lowest in at least 20 years. On March 6, the Saudi Fund for Development signed an agreement with Türkiye to deposit $5 billion in the Central Bank to implement the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The deposit agreement was signed between SFD Chairman Ahmed al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia's tourism minister, and Turkish Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu. The Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance, Nureddin Nebati, praised Saudi Arabia's decision on the deposit, saying it falls within the framework of the increasing economic and financial cooperation between the two countries. Nebati stressed that Türkiye would continue to boost its economic relations with Saudi Arabia and regional countries. SFD said the deposit is an extension of the historical relations and close cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Türkiye and its brotherly people. The total reserves of the Turkish Central Bank declined slightly in the week that began on March 10 to $120 billion, down from $12.4 billion in the week that started on March 3. The net reserves of the Central Bank of Turkey dropped about $2 billion to reach $18.7 billion in the same period. According to data from the Central Bank, foreign currency deposits of residents increased by $1.1 billion to $187.6 billion in the week of March 10, and residents' deposits, adjusted for parity, increased by $1.2 billion. Meanwhile, the Turkish Central Bank took another unprecedented step to prevent a rise in the exchange rate before the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for May 14. Last week, the Bank asked commercial lenders to use a dual foreign-exchange rate for transactions with companies, the latest step in its bid to ease pressure on the lira. According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, it told banks that companies with a foreign-exchange surplus must pay a premium to buy more dollars. Lenders were asked to raise the minimum USDTRY rate at which transactions with those companies and individual investors can take place to 19.2 from 19.15 previously. The lira closed last week at 19.0138 to the dollar. According to banking sources, the new step will enable companies that suffer from a net deficit in foreign currencies to purchase them at a lower exchange rate and reduce the demand for foreign currencies. The bankers pointed out that the differences in foreign exchange began to appear gradually in the sales of banks to their customers. The Central Bank also noted that purchases of $2.5 million or more need to get a clearance. According to experts, maintaining the stability of the Turkish lira is the cornerstone of the Turkish authorities' efforts to contain inflation, which exceeded 85 percent last October for the first time in 24 years. The government aimed to keep inflation under control before the fateful May elections amid solid efforts to maintain the stability of exchange rates in a high-inflation environment.