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Turkey's Lira Kicks Off 2019 on the Wrong Foot

Turkey's Lira Kicks Off 2019 on the Wrong Foot

(Bloomberg) -- The Turkish lira is off to a bad start to the year.

The currency has shed more than 3.5 percent of its value against the dollar in the first three days of 2019. Not only is that the most in the world, it’s also almost twice as much as the runner up, the Swedish krona.

Turkey's Lira Kicks Off 2019 on the Wrong Foot

Whether investors are getting wary over the prospect of premature monetary easing after inflation slowed again in December, or they’re simply closing out long positions after a spectacular run last quarter, is still not clear.

But after months of calm trading, price action on the dollar-lira cross -- compounded by Wednesday night’s “flash crash” -- is a sign that trading could turn choppy as local elections in March approach.

To contact the reporter on this story: Constantine Courcoulas in Istanbul at ccourcoulas1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Dana El Baltaji

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.