Turkish Lira plunges by 15% to 9.59 to Euro, 8.05 to the Dollar; near all-time low

The Turkish Lira plunged on Sunday night, immediately after the re-opening of major foreign exchange markets, less than 48 hours after the sack of the country’s central bank governor.

As markets opened on Sunday night, Turkey’s lira plunged 15 per cent to near its all-time low in reaction to the removal of Governor Naci Agbal over the weekend.

The Turkish currency has lost half its value since the 2018 currency crisis and currently at 9.59 to the euro, 8.05 to the dollar, 11.16 to the pound.

Kavcioglu, a former member of parliament for his ruling AK party on Saturday, March, 20 replaced Naci Agbal, who was appointed in November.

Naci Agbal, had aggressively raised key interest rate first to 17 per cent and then to 19 per cent, making Turkish rates the highest of any major economy.

In a statement released to international bankers, Kavcioglu hinted at interest rate cuts, while maintaining that a decline in inflation would follow.

He said: “The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, duties and powers within the framework established by Law in line with the fundamental objective of achieving lasting decline in inflation will continue to use monetary policy tools in an effective manner.