ANKARA: Turkey’s embattled currency, the lira, on Tuesday hit new historic lows against the US dollar after Fitch ratings agency expressed concerns over the central bank’s independence in the wake of comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Fitch said that comments by Erdogan last week that he plans to have a greater say in monetary policy if he wins June elections raised the possibility of economic policy becoming more unpredictable after the polls.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV while on a visit to London, Erdogan signalled he wanted to take greater control over monetary and economic policy even if this “may make some uncomfortable.”
“An explicit threat to curb the central bank’s independence increases risks to the policymaking environment and to policy effectiveness,” Fitch said in a statement.
It warned that the president’s comments raised the possibility of “overall economic policy, not just monetary policy, becoming less predictable after the elections.”
After the statement, the Turkish lira hit 4.65 against the dollar after 1300 GMT, a loss of 1.7 percent before it slightly pared back some of its losses to reach 4.63 before 1400 GMT.
The lira has lost over 14.9 percent of its value against the greenback in the past month
Erdogan has called for low interest rates to ensure strong growth.
And he often calls for lower rates to help reduce double-digit inflation, a position that flies in the face of economic orthodoxy. Inflation is currently at 10.85 percent.
The bank’s next monetary policy meeting is on June 7, but there have been calls on the bank by economists to hold an emergency meeting before then and implement a sharp rate hike before it’s too late to have any effect.
Fitch, which like other global ratings agencies currently assesses Turkish sovereign debt as deep into junk status, warned that erosion of the central bank’s independence would put “further pressure on Turkey’s sovereign credit profile.”
It said that after the elections “tougher global financing conditions will test the vulnerability created by Turkey’s large external financing requirement.”
Turkey lira hits new historic lows during president Erdogan reign
Turkey lira hits new historic lows during president Erdogan reign
- Turkish currency hit new historic lows after Fitch ratings agency expressed concerns over the central bank’s independence under President Erdogan.
- President Erdogan signalled he wanted to take greater control over monetary and economic policy if he wins June's elections.
US warns UK to stop arresting Palestine Action supporters
- Undersecretary of state for diplomacy: Arrests doing ‘more harm than good’ and ‘censoring’ free speech
- Group was banned in July 2025 after series of break-ins
LONDON: UK authorities should stop arresting protesters showing support for banned group Palestine Action, the White House has warned.
The US undersecretary of state for diplomacy said arrests are doing “more harm than good” and are “censoring” free speech.
Sarah Rogers told news site Semafor: “I would have to look at each individual person and each proscribed organization. I think if you support an organization like Hamas, then depending upon whether you’re coordinating, there are all these standards that get applied.
“This Palestine Action group, I’ve seen it written about. I don’t know what it did. I think if you just merely stand up and say, ‘I support Palestine Action’, then unless you are really coordinating with some violent foreign terrorist, I think that censoring that speech does more harm than good.”
So far, more than 2,000 people have been arrested in the UK for showing support for the group.
It was banned in July 2025 after a series of break-ins nationwide, including at a facility owned by a defense manufacturer and a Royal Air Force base, during which military aircraft were damaged.
Last year, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was among those arrested while protesting for Palestine Action.
The group is challenging its ban, saying it should not be compared to terrorist organizations such as the Irish Republican Army, Daesh or Al-Qaeda.
The ban has been criticized by numerous bodies, with Amnesty International calling it a case of “problematic, overly broad and draconian restrictions on free speech.”
In Scotland, prosecutors have been offering to drop charges against some protesters in return for accepting a fine of £100 ($134.30).
Adam McGibbon, who was arrested at a demonstration in Edinburgh last year, refused the offer, saying: “The fact that the authorities are offering fines equivalent to a parking ticket for a ‘terrorism offence’ shows just how ridiculous these charges are. Do supporters of (Daesh) get the same deal?
“I refuse to pay this fine, as has everyone else I know who has been offered one. Just try and put all 3,000 of us who have defied this ban so far in jail.”
Rogers said the UK is also wrong to arrest people using the phrase “globalize the intifada” while demonstrating in support of Palestine, after police in Manchester said in December that it would detain people chanting it.
“I’m from New York City where thousands of people were murdered by jihadists,” she said. referring to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “I don’t want an intifada in New York City, and I think anyone who does is disgusting, but should it be legal to say in most contexts? Yes.”
