The Turkish lira’s exchange rate fell for the ninth day in a row on Tuesday, hitting its lowest level this year, as government banks cut the value of dollars they sell to prop up the currency.
State-owned banks sold over one billion dollars to maintain the currency over the past two days, according to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg, but the pace of interventions slowed on Tuesday.
The lira dropped 2.1 percent to 15.8838 pounds per dollar, its lowest level since December.
According to Bloomberg, the currency has dropped 16 percent this year, making it the third-worst performing currency in the world after Sri Lanka and Ghana.
A rising current account deficit, high inflation, and an exceptionally loose monetary policy all of which are putting pressure on the Turkish lira, weakening investor confidence amid worsened global risk appetite.
