TRNC Finance Ministry borrows 5.4 billion lira in one day to repay old debts

On 27 August, the Central Bank of the TRNC held four government bond auctions for the Ministry of Finance and raised around 5.4 billion lira in domestic debt — almost as much as the ministry is due to repay on obligations maturing on 28 August.

At the auctions, which concluded the previous day, the Finance Ministry borrowed 4 billion 715 million lira, $7 million (337.9 million lira), €4.26 million (239.6 million lira) and £1 million (65.5 million lira). These were government domestic debt securities (DİBS) — Treasury bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance through the Central Bank.

According to the Central Bank, on 28 August the Finance Ministry is due to repay around 5.2 billion lira in debt maturing on that date. The funds borrowed the previous day will be used to settle these obligations.

During the first eight months of 2026, the Central Bank turned to domestic borrowing for the Finance Ministry 40 times, with the total amount raised exceeding 54.3 billion lira. At the same time, the Council of Ministers, through three separate decisions — on 7 January, 22 April and 15 July — set a borrowing limit of 6 billion lira for each decision, or 18 billion lira in total.

In 2025, the Finance Ministry was granted such authority twice, with a limit of 6 billion lira each time, and raised around 33.9 billion lira through 39 government bond auctions.