Turkish government cancels meeting to discuss lira weakness

ANKARA/ISTANBUL

REUTERS photo

The government canceled a meeting with top economy officials on Nov. 22, where they had planned to discuss weakness in the Turkish Lira, sources at Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s office told Reuters, citing a change in his program.

Speaking to reporters on Nov. 22 at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport, Yıldırım said “there is nothing to worry about in the economy,” despite recent turbulence. 

“After [Donald] Trump won the U.S. presidential election, global markets have seen heavy fluctuations, pushing up the dollar’s value against many currencies. This trend will likely continue for a while,” he said, adding that Turkey would be taking “a number of measures.” 

“These measures can be outlined under two headings: Measures taken by the Central Bank and others taken by the government,” Yıldırım noted. 

The canceled meeting would have been the second such gathering in less than week to discuss the recent precipitous fall in the value of the lira, which has hit a series of record lows against the dollar. 

Sources did not say whether the meeting would be rescheduled.

The government’s economic coordination committee (EKK) convened last week after the lira’s latest sell-off. It has lost around 14 percent of its value against the dollar this year, hitting a record low of 3.4080 on Nov. 18. 

While the lira was traded at around 3.37 against the U.S. dollar on Nov. 21, it eased to 3.35 after the government announced that an EEK meeting would be held. It regressed to around 3.37 after the meeting was canceled. 

Eyes will now turn to the Central Bank’s rate policy board meeting, which is scheduled on Nov. 24.