Turkish Lira Approaching a Record Low

The Turkish lira is heading towards a record low on Thursday after Finance Minister Barat Albayrak played down the importance of currency fluctuations and emphasized its competitiveness.

Turks have flocked to buy foreign currency in recent weeks and analysts have called for tougher measures, such as an official tightening of monetary policy, to stabilize the market and confront deeper economic problems.

The lira weakened slightly to 7.3400 against the dollar. It hit a record low of 7.3650 on Friday, down 19% against the US dollar since the start of the year, one of the worst-performing emerging market currencies.