Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the government has developed new mechanisms for tackling foreign attacks aimed at undermining Turkey's economy as the national currency is in the throes of a meltdown.
"We have taken and are taking measures to prevent sudden, rapid and unwarranted fluctuations in exchange rates caused by the domestic demand. Mechanisms for tackling foreign attacks were developed. Of course, we are doing all this without deviating from free market economy principles, without undermining the strong ties of our country with the world economy," Erdogan said in a televised appearance.
The president called on Turkish nationals to keep their savings in the national currency.
Over the past year, the Turkish economy experienced a drastic fall in the value of the national currency. In 2021, the lira lost more than 50 per cent of its value, prompting the central bank to lower the interest rate several times in a row. In January, the lira was trading at 7.4 per US dollar, as opposed to December, when it fell to a record low of 18.4.
The lira's drop was exacerbated by Erdogan's announcement of new measures against currency fluctuations. He has changed the head of the central bank three times since 2019 and the finance minister twice since November 2021. The Turkish opposition accused Erdogan of economic incompetence and dragging the country into an economic crisis, and called for early presidential and parliamentary elections. Erdogan denied the accusations and reaffirmed that presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey will be held as planned in July 2023. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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