Turkish Lira Slides Almost 8% After Intervention-Driven Surge

A money changer counts Turkish lira banknotes at a currency exchange office in Ankara, Turkey September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
A money changer counts Turkish lira banknotes at a currency exchange office in Ankara, Turkey September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
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Turkish Lira Slides Almost 8% After Intervention-Driven Surge

A money changer counts Turkish lira banknotes at a currency exchange office in Ankara, Turkey September 27, 2021. (Reuters)
A money changer counts Turkish lira banknotes at a currency exchange office in Ankara, Turkey September 27, 2021. (Reuters)

The lira tumbled almost 8% against the dollar on Monday amid persisting investor concern over Turkey's monetary policy, having surged more than 50% last week after billions of dollars of state-backed market interventions.

The lira was also supported last week by a government move to cover FX losses on certain deposits.

It weakened to as low as 11.6 against the greenback on Monday before trimming losses to trade at 11.35 by 0800 GMT.

"The main exchange rate resistance is at 11.45 and 12.0, with support levels of 10.57 and 10.25," QNB Invest said in a daily bulletin.

Last week's rally brought the Turkish currency back to mid-November levels.

Last Monday, it had plunged to an all-time low of 18.4 per dollar, after a months-long slide due to fears of spiraling inflation driven by a succession of interest rate cuts engineered by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At current levels the currency is still 35% weaker than at the end of last year.

Erdogan unveiled late last Monday a scheme under which the Treasury and central bank would reimburse losses on converted lira deposits against foreign currencies, sparking the lira's biggest intra-day rally.

Turks did not sell dollars in large quantities on Monday and Tuesday of last week, according to official data that suggested they had played little role in the gains. State interventions, meanwhile, cost the central bank more than $8 billion last week, according to traders' calculations.

The central bank sold $1.35 billion in direct forex interventions on Dec. 2-3 to support the lira when it stood around 13.5 per dollar, according to data.

In an interview with broadcaster AHaber, Erdogan said Turks showed confidence in the local currency and deposits increased by 23.8 billion lira after the anti-dollarization plan announcement.

But data from the BDDK banking watchdog showed that after heavy accumulation of dollars the previous week, Turkish individual depositors held $163.7 billion of hard currencies last Tuesday, virtually unchanged from Monday and Friday, when the total was $163.8 billion.

The lira got a big boost last week from what traders and economists called backdoor dollar sales by state banks, supported by the central bank.

Under pressure from Erdogan, the central bank has slashed its policy rates by 500 basis points to 14% since September, despite inflation that has risen to more than 21%. Price rises are set to exceed 30% next year in part due to the lira depreciation, economists predict.

The main BIST 100 stock index in Istanbul rose 2.6% on Monday morning.



Trump Says US May Not Have a Negotiated Trade Deal with Canada

 25 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the media before heading to Scotland this weekend for meetings and to play golf. (dpa)
25 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the media before heading to Scotland this weekend for meetings and to play golf. (dpa)
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Trump Says US May Not Have a Negotiated Trade Deal with Canada

 25 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the media before heading to Scotland this weekend for meetings and to play golf. (dpa)
25 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump speaks to the media before heading to Scotland this weekend for meetings and to play golf. (dpa)

The United States may not reach a negotiated trade deal with Canada, US President Donald Trump said on Friday, suggesting his administration could set a tariff rate unilaterally.

Trump, speaking to reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Scotland, said, "We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where there's just a tariff, not really a negotiation."

The two nations are trying to work out a trade deal before August 1, when Washington is threatening to impose 35% tariffs on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Canadian officials have increasingly made clear that the chances of a deal by August 1 are unlikely.

Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of US-Canada trade, told reporters in Washington on Thursday after two days of talks that "we've made progress, but we have a lot of work in front of us."

LeBlanc said Canada would take the time necessary to get the best deal possible.

Carney indicated last week that Canada might not be able to persuade the United States to lift all its sanctions.