Turkish Lira slides 3 percent as markets reopen

ISTANBUL

The Turkish Lira weakened 3 percent against the United States dollar on Aug. 27 after a week-long holiday, hit by persisting concerns about a diplomatic rift with Washington over a detained U.S. pastor.

As local trading resumed, the slide left the lira down 38 percent against the dollar this year, triggered by the stand-off with the United States over the fate of pastor Andrew Brunson.

Brunson is being tried in Turkey over terrorism charges, which he rejects.

With the dollar stronger globally, the lira weakened as far as 6.19 liras per dollar from a close of 6.00 liras per dollar on Aug. 24, when the Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) came to an end. The lira stood at 6.135 liras per dollar at 8:10 GMT, according to Reuters data. Earlier this month, it hit a historic low of 7.24 liras to the dollar.

In a conference call before the holiday, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak assured investors Turkey would emerge stronger from the crisis, insisting its banks were healthy but that the authorities were ready to provide support to the sector if needed.

In his first comments on the currency crisis since before the holiday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Aug. 25 the commitment and determination of Turks was the guarantee needed to combat attacks on Turkey’s economy.

One focus of interest for investors will be Turkey’s Medium Term Program for the economy, which Albayrak said he would announce in the first half of September.