Significant Amendments to the Legislation on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance has introduced significant amendments to the Communiqués on Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency. With Communiqués No. 2025-32/72 and 2025-32/73, published in the Official Gazette on March 6, 2025, the amendments have been made to payments in foreign currency and record retention periods.

The amendments under the Communiqués are as follows:

1.Payment in Foreign Currency for Movable Sales Contracts

With Communiqué No. 2025-32/72, an amendment has been made to Article 8 of Communiqué No. 2008-32/34 regarding the Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency.

As is known, it is possible for individuals residing in Türkiye to agree on the contract price and other payment obligations arising from the movable sales contract, excluding vehicle sales contracts, in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency. Previously, with certain exceptions, it was mandatory for payment obligations to be fulfilled and accepted in Turkish currency, however, with the new regulation, this obligation has been removed, and from now on, payments may be made in foreign currency.

In addition, previously, public institutions and organizations, companies affiliated with the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, and companies holding (A) or (B) level certification under the Industrial Competence Assessment and Support Program were allowed to agree on the contract price and other payment obligations arising from contracts, excluding real estate sales and leases, in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency, and such payments could be made and accepted in foreign currency. However, with the new regulation, it is now only possible to determine the contract price in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency in contracts within this scope. Accordingly, payment of the contract price and other payment obligations arising from these contracts cannot be made and accepted in foreign currency.

2. Record Retention Periods

With Communiqué No. 2025-32/73, amendments have been made to the first and fifth paragraphs of Article 26 of Communiqué No. 2018-32/45 regarding Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency.

As is known, authorized institutions are required to maintain a functional camera and video recording system in accordance with the procedures and principles determined by the Ministry. With the new regulation, the retention period for the records obtained from the camera and video recording systems, which was previously at least 1 year from the date of recording, has been changed to 2 years.

Additionally, while authorized institutions were previously required to back up the records obtained from the camera and video recording systems on a weekly basis at a location different from their existing workplace or by using cloud computing services, and to store these data for at least 1 year, the new regulation has extended this retention period to 2 years.

Both Communiqués entered into force on the date of publication and will be enforced by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. You can access the full text of these Communiqués through these links (Communiqué No. 2025-32/72 / Communiqué No. 2025-32/73.). (Only available in Turkish)