Turkish lira hits another record low

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Turkey's lira plunged to a record low of 17.5 per US dollar on Monday on concerns over President Tayyip Erdogan's low-interest rates economic policy and soaring inflation.

The Turkish lira fell to new lows on Thursday as the central bank cut interest rates for the fourth month in a row.

The lira traded at 17.2 to the U.S. currency at 0557 GMT, weakening from its close of 16.4790 on Friday. The currency which lost more than half of its value this year, slid as much as 6.3% and hit a record low of 17.6 against the dollar.

The unprecedented collapse of Turkey’s national currency came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged on Sunday to repeat his achievement of sharply reducing the level of inflation in the country, stressing that the Turkish government will painstakingly pursue the policy of low-interest rates.

It is worth noting that Erdogan's new economic plan prioritizes exports and lending, even though economists and opposition lawmakers have widely described the policy as “reckless”. With inflation soaring, Turks' budgets have been sharply eroded.

On Sunday, thousands of Turks took to the streets in Istanbul and Ankara against the government's economic policies and inflation, demanding better conditions for workers. Videos of the protests were circulated on social media.

Many see reports of tumbling lira due to Erdoğan's authoritarian incompetence, but may dismiss with "whatever, I don't like money-based systems anyway", but effects against the people is real and disastrous.
Illustration, a bread queue in Turkey,
via Bistun Manisht Democratic: pic.twitter.com/2GrHQI2Utm

— b9AcE 🐊 (@b9AcE) December 17, 2021