ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he hoped that foreign-exchange rates would stabilise shortly and again promised low interest rates, after a historic plunge in the lira currency to record lows.
“God willing we will stabilise foreign-exchange rates in a short time period,” Erdogan told an audience in the eastern city of Siirt. “Interest rates are a malady that make the rich even richer and the poor even poorer,” he added.
The lira shed some 30% over the last month in a selloff driven by aggressive interest rate cuts that Erdogan sought, but that economists and opposition politicians say are reckless.
The currency touched a record low of 14 to the dollar on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Azra Ceylan; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Jane Merriman)
