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Turkey currency crisis: Erdoğan doubles down as central bank scrambles
Turkey’s central bank is scrambling to prop up the country’s spiraling currency, the lira, as rising prices leave Turks struggling to afford essentials and venting their frustrations with the government. How it happened: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pressured the central bank to cut interest rates this year even as the lira has lost nearly half its value against the dollar. He has long claimed, in stark contrast to economic orthodoxy, that low rates limit inflation. Driving the news: He replaced his more mainstream finance minister on Thursday with a loyalist, causing the lira to fall further, and ... (full story)