SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkish lira hit record low against the dollar on Monday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended low interest.
The lira traded at 17.46 to the U.S. currency at 0634 GMT, weakening from its close of 16.47 on Friday.
The Turkish president defended his economic policy on Sunday and said the volatility in exchange rates should be seen as attacks on the country’s economy, assuring inflation, which has hit 21.3% will fall back to single digits.
Erdogan’s new economic plan prioritizes exports and lending, even though economists and opposition lawmakers have widely criticized the policy as reckless. With inflation soaring, Turks’ budgets have been sharply eroded.
The slide has been fueled by the central bank’s policy easing under Erdogan’s unorthodox economic programme with rates cut by 500 basis points since September, making the currency even less attractive to investors and savers.
