Lira

Turkey made it easier for foreigners to become Turkish citizens by cutting the financial and investment criteria required for citizenship.

ANKARA: Turkey raised natural gas prices on Saturday by as much as 14 per cent, two sources said, while the energy regulator announced a similar increase in electricity costs as a deepening currency crisis stokes inflation. The lira has fallen 42pc against the dollar this year, hit by concerns about President Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on monetary policy and a worsening rift with the United States over a detained American Christian pastor. The sell-off has increased the cost of food and petrol and raised fears about the…

The Turkish lira tumbled on Wednesday to its lowest value against the US dollar in two weeks, despite Ankara's attempts to reassure investors after Moody's downgraded its credit ratings.

ISTANBUL: Turkey warned on Monday that US trade sanctions against it could destabilise the Middle East and ultimately bolster terrorism and the refugee crisis, underscoring the regional impact of Ankara’s deepening rift with Washington. Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is President Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, used a visit to Paris to both take aim at the United States and highlight Ankara’s push for better ties with Europe, given the stand-off with Washington. The rift with the United States over an…

ISTANBUL/ANKARA: President Tayyip Erdogan told Turks on Friday to exchange their gold and dollars into lira, with the currency in free fall as President Donald Trump escalated a feud with Ankara by doubling tariffs on metals imports. The lira has long been falling on worries about Erdogan’s influence over monetary policy and worsening relations with the United States. That turned into a rout on Friday, with the lira diving as much as 18 percent at one point, the biggest one-day drop since Turkey’s 2001 financial crisis.…

ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira tumbled more than 5 percent on Wednesday before recovering some ground, the latest drop in a sell-off that reflects growing investor alarm over the direction of monetary policy under President Tayyip Erdogan. The decline, exacerbated by stop-loss selling by Japanese retail investors overnight, brings the lira’s losses to more than 20 percent so far this year and puts it on track for its worst monthly performance since the 2008 financial crisis. The sell-off has also increased expectations…

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country was moving towards allowing trade with Russia, China and Iran to be conducted in local currencies, as he continues his efforts to strengthen the falling lira. "We are taking steps towards trading with Russia, China and Iran with local currencies," he said, ahead of a trip by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to Russia for meetings on Tuesday. "If we buy something from them, we will use their money, if they buy something from us, they will use our…

ISTANBUL: Turkey's television regulator has handed a record fine to a popular game show for a segment where husbands were filmed dancing with other women as their wives looked on, reports said Sunday.