Cautious optimism prevails in Istanbul’s forex markets as lira rebounds

Cautious optimism prevails in Istanbul’s forex markets as lira rebounds

An atmosphere of cautious optimism was in the air on Thursday in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, the financial heart of the city filled with foreign exchange offices, after the Turkish lira rebounded from a record low. Resat Yilmaz, who has been in the gold and foreign exchange business in the Grand Bazaar for about 40 years, expressed his optimism in front of his tiny gold store with reservations. "Dark clouds were circulating in our country, but the latest statement of the president lowered the tension," Yilmaz said. On Monday evening, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed new measures to protect savings from the fluctuations of the national currency. He said the government would compensate the depositor if the yield remains below the exchange rate difference between the account opening and its maturity dates despite the earned interest. "Now, all eyes are on inflation (which is currently above 21 percent)," Yilmaz continued."If the decline in the dollar would be reflected in food prices, this would be very positive." In his view, currently, there is no demand for foreign currency in the markets as the expectation that the lira would achieve more gains. "Now, people have been increasingly buying gold," he said, noting