Why the lira is threatened with a steep fall

Dusseldorf, Istanbul Two years ago, one US dollar cost around seven lira in Turkey. It is now almost 18 lira. And currency experts reckon that the lira could soon break this mark as well. Then there is a threat of a downward trend that can hardly be stopped.

The psychologically important brand is gradually being approached, wrote the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, which is critical of the government, on its front page on Friday. Everything becomes more expensive.

Inflation is 79 percent, the key interest rate is 14 percent. “Many prefer to spend everything now before it gets even more expensive,” says a saleswoman at the world-famous bazaar in Istanbul. Because it could get worse.

For almost two weeks, the currency analysts at Commerzbank have been warning of the next slide in the Turkish lira – although the Turkish currency has already slipped around 35 percent against the dollar since the beginning of the year.