Turkish Lira Declining a Day Before an Important Interest Decision

The Turkish lira fell on Wednesday, November 18, a day before the central bank’s important interest rate decision, as it remained at levels reached last week due to expectations of a sharp rate hike.

By 07:29 GMT, the lira was at 7.73 per dollar, compared with 7.7150 at Tuesday’s close. Earlier, it fell to 7.76 and remained in the range of 7.7-7.8 for most of this week, down 24% since the start of the year.

Markets are now focusing on the interest rate decision planned in the first meeting chaired by the new central bank governor, Naji Iqbal, who is expected to adopt a tougher approach to monetary policy.

A Reuters poll revealed that the bank is expected to raise the interest rate to 15% tomorrow, Thursday, from 10.25% at the present time.