Turkish Lira Hits Record Low After Erdogan Calls For Interest Rate Cuts

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that his country needed to cut interest rates and that he had spoken to the central bank governor about the issue, which has sent the lira to new record lows against the dollar.

“I spoke to the central bank governor today – we definitely need to lower interest rates,” Erdogan said in an interview.

“For that we need to see interest rates start to fall in July and August,” he added, adding that this would put the burden on investments.

Comments by Erdogan, who describes himself as the “enemy of interest rates”, sent the lira, already under pressure last week, to new record lows against the dollar.

The Turkish currency fell more than 4% to a record low of 8.88 lira per dollar after Erdogan’s comments.

The Turkish president’s repeated calls for lower borrowing costs and his sudden dismissal of the last three central bank governors have severely dented the bank’s credibility.