ANKARA: Declines in inflation over the next months will further boost the rise in the share of Turkish lira deposits in total, said a post on the Turkish Central Bank's blog on Thursday. The share of lira deposits in total deposits grew from 48.4% to 51.8% in July-August, said a blog post by researchers and economists working at the bank. Tightening steps taken in March spurred a shift in preferences towards Turkish lira deposits, it said. At its March meeting, the Turkish Central Bank surprisingly hiked its policy rate, also known as the one-week repo rate, by 500 basis points to 50% "in response to the deterioration in the inflation outlook.' While preferences for the Turkish lira are strengthening, FX deposits rose during summer as the current account balance posted a surplus, it highlighted. The accelerated exit from FX-protected deposit (KKM) accounts due to recent policy measures also helped the rise in FX deposits, it added. Increased demand for Turkish lira assets, rises in Central Bank reserves , and the bank's efforts to curb the KKM supply and demand have all made a decline in KKM accounts pick up speed, beginning in April. Despite the unwinding of $14 billion in KKM balances, FX deposit balances rose by only $3.3 billion in July-August, it noted. "Following a rapid shift from FX deposits to TRY (lira) deposits, the FX deposit balance is stabilizing amid the accelerated exit from KKMs," it said. Source: Anadolu Agency