ISTANBUL- Turkey will allow foreign citizens resident in the country to make real estate contracts in foreign currencies under a revision of regulations designed to support the Turkish currency, the Official Gazette said on Friday.
In September, Turkey ruled that property sales, rental contracts and leasing transactions must be made in lira, halting the use of foreign currencies for such deals in a step to support the ailing lira.
The lira has rebounded strongly after hitting a record low of 7.24 against the dollar in August, but it is still some 30 percent weaker this year. It stood at 5.3855 on Friday.
Among the latest revisions in regulations to support the lira, the government also said that forex-indexed real estate contracts would be allowed in free trade zones, the Official Gazette said.
Last month it announced other exemptions to the ban on using foreign currencies in business agreements, including export-related contracts, capital market instruments and employment contracts involving foreigners.
(Reporting by Mehmet Demir and Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Daren Butler) ((daren.butler@tr.com; +90-212-350 7053; Reuters Messaging: daren.butler.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
