Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he hoped that volatile foreign-exchange and inflation rates would stabilise shortly and he again promised low interest rates, after a historic plunge in the lira currency to record lows. The lira shed some 30% over the last month in a selloff driven by aggressive interest rate cuts that Erdogan sought, but that economists and opposition politicians say are reckless in part due to soaring inflation. “God willing we will stabilise all fluctuations in prices and forex rates in not such a long time,” Erdogan told an audience in the eastern city of Siirt. “Tayyip Erdogan said low interest rates yesterday, says low interest rates today and will say low interest rates tomorrow,” the president said. . “I will never compromise on this because interest rates are a malady that make the rich even richer, and the poor even poorer.” The currency touched a record intra-day low of 14 to the dollar on Tuesday and logged a record close on Friday, at 13.7485. It is by far the worst-performing currency in emerging markets this year after having shed 45% of its value.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2021.
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