Turkey’s currency drops to record low

Shafaq News/ Turkey’s currency dropped to a historic record low on Thursday, with the U.S. dollar buying 7.95 lira in Istanbul and 7.92 in Ankara.

The dropping is the latest in more than two years of consistent depreciation of the Turkish currency, most recently intensified by Ankara’s involvement in a slew of geopolitical conflicts including Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, eastern Mediterranean resource disputes and its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system.

U.S. sanctions against Turkey “are also becoming a distinct possibility.” This could make the situation even worse.

Turkey’s central bank did surprise investors by raising its main interest rate in late September from 8.25% to 10.25%.

Turkey’s consumer inflation was revealed at 11.75% year on year for September, slightly lower than analyst estimates but hardly encouraging still as core inflation pushes higher.