Turkish companies could be forced to start selling their foreign currency holdings after a new directive was issued that bankers and analysts described as a fresh step down the path towards capital controls.

The Turkish banking regulator announced on Friday night that banks would be banned from extending new local-currency loans to groups with significant dollar and euro holdings.

The measure will apply to companies with foreign exchange on their books worth more than TL15mn ($890,000) that exceeds 10 per cent of their total assets or annual revenues, said the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.

The move sent shockwaves through the Turkish banking sector. “If their lira loan matures Monday, they cannot borrow,” said one Istanbul banker, who asked not to be named. “No bank can extend a [lira-denominated] loan.”

The move is the latest in a string of unorthodox attempts to support the ailing lira without raising interest rates.

Analysts say that Turkey, which has a large trade deficit and low foreign currency reserves, is in danger of facing another full-blown currency crisis in the months ahead.