Turkish lira hits fresh record lows after rate hike

The Turkish lira weakened as much as 2.8 per cent to a fresh record low early on Friday.

The lira last traded at 25.2015 against the U.S Dollar, some 1.3 per cent weaker than Thursday’s close. At its weakest point of 25.59 it was nearly 27 per cent weaker against the US currency this year.

Turkey’s central bank raised its key rate by a hefty 650 basis points to 15 per cent on Thursday and said it would go further in its first meeting under new Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, who was appointed by Erdogan after his election victory last month.

The move marked a change in course after years of monetary easing in which the one-week repo rate (TRINT=ECI) had been cut to 8.5 per cent from 19 per cent in 2021 in an unorthodox policy pursued despite soaring inflation.

EXCHANGE RATE    BUYING    SALES
 USD                              24.7000    25,5000
 EUR                              27.0000    27,9000
 GBP                              31.3500    32.4000
 USD                              14.3000    16.5000