ANKARA (Dispatches) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent Turkey’s lira currency to new all-time lows after he called for interest rate cuts in the next two months and said he spoke to the central bank’s new governor about it.
“I am behind the same claim on this issue – I even spoke to the central bank governor today – we certainly need to lower interest rates,” Erdogan told a televised interview with state broadcaster TRT Haber late on Tuesday. “For that, we need to see July, August for interest rates to start coming down,” he said, adding that lowering interest rates would lift the burden on investments.
Erdogan’s frequent calls for lower borrowing costs and his abrupt removal of three central bank chiefs in less than two years has eroded Turkey’s monetary credibility and left it more vulnerable to high inflation and financial crisis.
The currency was battered again last week on concerns over global inflation and an early election in Turkey.