Turkish Lira Falls to Record Low as Rate-Cut Jitters Build

(Bloomberg) -- The Turkish lira tumbled to another record low as traders braced for the central bank to press on with an easing cycle that has fanned inflation and undermined the currency.

The lira dropped as much as 3.1%, falling past the psychologically important 15-per-dollar mark for the first time. The currency pared some of that retreat to trade 1.4% weaker at 15.0252 per dollar as of 9:39 a.m. in Istanbul. 

The central bank is expected to reduce its one-week repo rate by 100 basis points to 14% on Thursday, according to the median estimate of 22 analysts surveyed Bloomberg. That’s well below inflation, which rose to 21.3% in November, the fastest pace in three years.

Officials have slashed the key rate by 400 basis points since September, falling in line with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s demands for looser monetary policy to help boost growth and create jobs.

Since the cuts started, the lira has lost more than 40% of its value, by far the steepest decline in the period in emerging markets.

On the eve of Thursday’s decision, Erdogan reshuffled the government’s deputy finance ministers in a decree published in the official gazette on Wednesday night. Two weeks earlier, Erdogan appointed Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati, a former lawmaker with the ruling party who supports the president’s low interest rates policy. 

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