The Turkish lira fell to another historic low against the US dollar, declining from around 3.43 to more than 3.50 lira to the dollar after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) agreed on Thursday on a constitutional amendment to expand President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s power.
The movement in foreign currency started following a statement by Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Thursday morning at a Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) meeting saying that “the dollar will not calm down before Jan. 20.” The lira slid to 3.46 to the dollar following Yıldırım’s statement.
A second wave of depreciation of the lira was triggered by a statement following a meeting Thursday afternoon between MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım at Çankaya Palace. “The talks with the MHP on a constitutional amendment have reached fruition. We will present our draft bill to Parliament next week,” said Yıldırım during a press conference with the MHP leader.
Meanwhile the lira also hit a new low at more than 3.71 lira to the euro.