The Turkish central bank failed to stop the lira’s free fall with its limited step to boost liquidity in financial markets, amid political pressure to keep interest rates low, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Turkish currency tumbled as much as 1.9% during trading in Istanbul on Tuesday, its fourth straight record low. Instead of touching interest rates, the central bank loosened foreign-currency reserve requirements by half of a percentage point, saying the measure would inject about $1.5 billion of liquidity into financial markets.

Turkey’s economy contracted for the first time in seven years during the third quarter, official data showed on Monday, as mounting uncertainties since a failed summer coup crimped domestic demand and devastated key industries like tourism. Gross domestic product in July through September shrunk by 1.8% annually, sinking deeper into negative territory than a 0.4% drop forecast by 10 economists in a Wall Street Journal survey and reversing Turkey’s resilient growth record since its latest decline in the third quarter of 2009.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced Thursday the creation of a $72 billion fund for local businesses, part of a spate of new government measures aimed at supporting the country’s economy and slumping currency, The Wall Street Journal reported. Turkey’s currency, the lira, has dropped 18% against the dollar this year and has traded at historical lows since early November. This has happened against the backdrop of the political uncertainty following a failed coup in mid-July and the imposition of a state of emergency.

After July’s attempted coup, Turkish ministers, officials and trade bodies have been scrambling to show that the world’s 17th largest economy is on a sound footing by meeting investors, advertising in western media including the Financial Times, and announcing a slew of measures aimed at building confidence. They are anxious to reassure markets and investors and, crucially the rating agencies, after Moody’s warned it could downgrade Turkey’s sovereign debt rating to junk status.

Turkey’s failed coup is dealing yet another blow to the nation’s banks, which are already under pressure from rising bad debts and a slump in tourism, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Istanbul-based lenders Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi AS and Sekerbank TAS canceled about $800 million of debt sales this week after the attempt to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ensuing political unrest spooked investors. Neither bank forecast when it may return to the credit markets, with Sekerbank saying it would contact fixed-income investors in due course.

Turkey’s central bank today cut one of its key rates for the fifth consecutive month after an attempted coup triggered fears about repercussions for the country’s economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Monetary Policy Committee in Ankara said it cut the overnight lending rate to 8.75 percent from 9 percent. It kept its benchmark one-week repo rate steady at 7.5 percent and its overnight borrowing rate at 7.25 percent. After the decision, Turkey’s lira extended its losses, trading 0.1 percent lower at 2.9847 per dollar, compared with 2.9713 before the announcement.

Turkey needs “a new growth model, a new story. Growth based on hot money flows is over.” Those are the words of Cemil Ertem, chief adviser to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, in a television interview on June 9, the Financial Times reported. Mr Ertem is one of many government figures who have castigated Turkey’s central bank for not lowering interest rates quickly enough, and who see foreign portfolio investors and an ill-defined “interest rate lobby” as the enemies of Turkish prosperity.

National Bank of Greece said yesterday that it had agreed to sell a majority stake in Finansbank of Turkey to Qatar National Bank for 2.75 billion euros, or about $3 billion, the New York Times DealBook blog reported yesterday. The Greek bank began exploring “strategic options” for its Turkish business last year after the European Central Bank identified a capital shortfall at National Bank of Greece and at other Greek lenders.

Turkey’s central bank left interest rates unchanged for a 10th consecutive month on Tuesday, sending markets tumbling after it defied expectations that it would raise rates in tandem with the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Monetary Policy Committee kept the benchmark one-week repo rate at 7.5 percent, and left unchanged its interest-rate corridor, ranging from the overnight borrowing rate of 7.25 percent to the 10.75 percent overnight lending rate.

The pressure on Turkey’s lira isn’t likely to ease any time soon, which could mean more pain for one of the most battered emerging-market currencies, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The lira sank to a record low against the dollar yesterday, pressured by domestic political uncertainty, escalating violence and the prospect of a lowered credit-rating outlook on top of the possibility of a U.S. interest-rate increase later this week. The uncertainty isn’t expected to let up before elections slated for November.