Turkey’s central bank yesterday took action to free up cash for banks as the country grapples with a currency crisis sparked by concerns over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s economic policies and a trade and diplomatic dispute with the US.
The Turkish lira has nosedived over the past week and yesterday tumbled another 7 percent as the central bank’s measures failed to restore investor confidence.
The uncertainty pushed down world stock markets and briefly caused a sharp drop in the currencies of other emerging economies amid concerns that the financial trouble could spread.
Photo: Reuters
The lira hit a record low of 7.23 to the US dollar late on Sunday after Erdogan remained defiant in his economic policies and the standoff against the US.
“Turkey is faced with an economic siege,” he said yesterday in the latest of a series of speeches. “We are taking the necessary steps against these attacks and will continue to do so.”
Erdogan has ruled out the possibility of higher interest rates, as they can slow economic growth.
Photo: AFP / Turkish Presidential Press Service / Kayhan Ozer
However, independent analysts say higher rates are needed urgently to stabilize the currency and Erdogan’s hardline stance is one of the reasons investors are worrying.
The central bank announced a series of measures to “provide all the liquidity the banks need,” but offered no hint of a rate increase.
The country’s economic trouble has been heightened by a dispute with the US that has centered on the continued detention of a US pastor who is on trial for espionage and terror-related charges.
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu yesterday said that the US would not achieve its aims by exerting pressure and imposing sanctions on Turkey.
Addressing a conference in Ankara gathering Turkish ambassadors, he called on Washington to “remain loyal to ties based on traditional friendship and NATO alliance” with Turkey.
Meanwhile, the government moved to take legal action against hundreds of social media accounts it accused of provoking the lira’s plunge. The lira has dropped about 45 percent this year.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique