Turkey

The signs of Turkey’s disastrous economy are all around. Long lines snake outside discounted bread kiosks. The prices of medicine, milk and toilet paper are soaring. Some gas stations have closed after exhausting their stock. Angry outbursts have erupted on the streets. “Unemployment, high living costs, price increases, and bills are breaking our backs,” the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions said last month.

Turkish policy makers failed to arrest the lira’s free fall with their third intervention this month as the currency quickly resumed losses amid an interest-rate policy seen as too loose by markets, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary authority said Friday it sold foreign exchange because of “unhealthy” price formations, echoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s words to describe the recent turbulence. While the lira rebounded briefly, it slid back closer to 14 per dollar, near levels that sparked all the three interventions.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed a new treasury and finance minister early Thursday after Lutfi Elvan stepped down from the post as the currency has been tumbling to record lows, the Associated Press reported. Erdogan named Nureddin Nebati, who was deputy minister, to the post, according to an announcement published in the Official Gazette. It said Elvan asked to be “pardoned from the job” and that his request was accepted.

Turkey’s central bank moved Wednesday to prop up the country’s collapsing currency, selling foreign reserves after the lira reached new lows following comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in defense of his unorthodox economic policies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The lira rebounded after the bank said it was taking action to address “unhealthy price formations in exchange rates.” The free-falling lira has heaped economic pressure on ordinary Turkish people, who are struggling with rising prices of food, fuel, medicine and other essential goods.

Turkey’s top investigative body will focus on foreign currency purchases when it probes the reasons behind the lira’s plunge in November, Bloomberg News reported. Investigators from the State Supervisory Council will be authorized to seek prosecution if criminal activity is suspected, the person told Bloomberg on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose confidential details. The state-run Anadolu Agency, which first reported the impending probe on Saturday, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered the council to determine whether currency manipulation took place.

The Turkish lira’s freefall shattered records Tuesday as Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s intensifying campaign for lower interest rates plunges the country deeper into crisis, triggering an unscheduled meeting between the president and his central bank chief, Reuters reported. The lira, which dropped by more than 15% earlier in the day, was trading 8.2% lower at 12.4062 per dollar as of 5:30 p.m. in Istanbul. The currency’s 11-day losing streak is now the longest in 20 years, and in November alone, it’s lost almost a third of its value.

The Turkish lira tumbled to a record low after the central bank cut borrowing costs for a third straight month, a move that risks further undermining price stability while eroding what little confidence investors had in the nation’s policy makers, Bloomberg News reported. The lira fell as much as 6% to 11.3118 against the dollar, the biggest decline in eight months. Officials cut the one-week repo rate by 100 basis points to 15%, in line with the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey, and said they would consider ending the easing cycle next month.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey will remove two fixed payments from electricity bills to help consumers, adding his government had already subsidised some energy costs, Reuters reported. Erdogan faces tough elections no later than mid-2023 and his approval ratings have been hit by Turkey's nearly 20% inflation rate, with recent rises in staples such as food and gas.

The Turkish lira weakened 1.6% to a record low against the dollar in early Asian trade after President Tayyip Erdogan said he had ordered the expulsion of the ambassadors of the United States and nine other Western countries, Reuters reported. The currency had already hit record lows last week after the Turkish central bank (CBRT) cut its policy rate by 200 basis points, despite rising inflation, in a shock move derided as reckless by economists and opposition lawmakers. The lira hit an all-time low of 9.75 by 1840 GMT on Sunday, weakening from Friday's close of 9.5950.

The Turkish lira plunged to a record low against the U.S. dollar Thursday after a harsher-than-expected cut in interest rates, the Associated Press reported. The decision by the Central Bank’s monetary committee to cut the rate from 18% to 16% surprised analysts. The lira dropped to 9.45 against the dollar, compounding a long run of losses. The cut, which came as inflation stands at nearly 20%, will be seen by many as further evidence of the bank’s lack of independence from the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.