On October 10, the Turkish lira slumped to a new all-time low against the US dollar.
According to analysts, the Turkish lira exceeded the level of 28 lire for 1 US dollar for the first time in history. Notably, during 2023, the Turkish currency fell every month except for August. In June, economists recorded the deepest slump this year. The lira lost almost 25% against the greenback to trade at 26 lire per 1 US dollar. In July 2023, the exchange rate surpassed 27 lire per 1 USD for the first time.
As a result, in the middle of September, the Turkish central bank raised the key interest rate to 30% from 25%. Experts consider this a record reading since 2003. During the week from October 2 to October 7, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported an acceleration in inflation to 61.53%. Earlier, inflation totaled 58.94%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased by 4.75%.
Some time before that, economists predicted that by the end of 2023, inflation in Turkey would stay at 70%. Meanwhile, ENAG, an independent inflation research group, foresees yearly inflation in September at the critical level of 130.13%.
