Erdogan Takes Another Swipe at Lira with His Defense of Low Rates

Erdogan Takes Another Swipe at Lira with His Defense of Low Rates

Turkey's beleaguered lira skidded 4% on Friday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on his low-rates policy that has been widely criticized, capping a volatile week in which the currency plunged to all-time lows.

Erdogan's promise to ease monetary policy and defend Turks from being "trampled" by high interest rates sent the lira to as far as 12.628 versus the dollar in a late-session slide at 1428 GMT.

The currency has lost as much as 45% of its value this year, with around half of those losses since the start of last week alone.

It hit 13.45 in a historic 15% selloff on Tuesday that was triggered by two other speeches by Erdogan in the last 10 days in which he has defended the central bank move to slash its policy rate to 15%, despite inflation of 20%.

The lira's spiral has upended household spending plans, disrupted the supply of some medications and briefly halted the sales of some other imports like cellular phones.

Many economists and opposition lawmakers have called for an immediate policy reversal and elections, while the government is increasingly standing by Erdogan's push for monetary stimulus despite the risks, including a sharp erosion of Turks' earnings.

The deputy finance minister and