Reuters – The Turkish lira weakened 0.5% on Friday as investor concerns persisted over the combination of lower rates and higher inflation, and after the government denied a newspaper report that the finance minister had offered his resignation.
The resignation speculation played little role in market activity, traders said, pointing rather to the firmer dollar that was pushing the lira TRYTOM=D3 to near an all-time low of 9.85 touched late last month.
The currency weakened as much as 0.6% to 9.75 against the greenback and stood at 9.7200 at 0818 GMT.
It has lost some 23% of its value so far this year, hurt primarily by what analysts have called premature monetary easing in the face of inflation running near 20%.
The central bank has cut its policy interest rate by a total of 300 basis points since September, sending the lira to a series of record lows against the dollar.
