Turkish lira blows through 15 to dollar ahead of rate decision
Despite inflation soaring above 21%, the central bank is expected to cut its key rate by 100 basis points to 14% at its policy-setting meeting later in the day, according to a Reuters poll
The Turkish lira dropped to an all-time low beyond 15 against the dollar on Thursday ahead of another expected interest rate cut by the central bank, which has fallen in line with President Tayyip Erdogan's risky new economic programme.
The lira weakened as much as 2.9% to 15.25 and was trading at 15.2 at 0701 GMT. The US currency has more than doubled in value against the lira so far this year, rattling Turkey's big emerging market economy.
Despite inflation soaring above 21%, the central bank is expected to cut its key rate by 100 basis points to 14% at its policy-setting meeting later in the day, according to a Reuters poll.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"An experiment is being conducted and Erdogan is in charge of this experiment. Interest rates will be brought down as far as they can," said economist Guldem Atabay at Istanbul Analytics.
The bank has cut its key rate by 400 basis points to 15% since September under Erdogan's plan to prioritise exports and lending, even though economists and opposition lawmakers have widely criticised the policy as reckless.
