Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on Tuesday said the US dollar has lost its reliability as it has the potential to inflict a shock on the global economy, especially to Europe, the T24 news website reported.
“[This crisis] has generated beneficial results regarding the structure of the Turkish economy. What Turkey is facing today reveals that we need to build a far stronger structure for our economy,” Albayrak said at a symposium organized by the pro-government SETA think tank in Ankara.
Turkey has been facing a currency crisis since its relations with the US administration were dramatically strained over a court decision to put American pastor Andrew Brunson under house arrest after almost two years in pretrial detention rather than release him as demanded by the US administration.
The country’s national currency has lost over 40 percent of its value against the US dollar since the beginning of this year.
“On Aug. 10, an attack on the Turkish lira was declared at the highest level,” Albayrak said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s tweet that announced a doubling of tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Turkey.
“In the coming period you’ll see the lira stronger. They have been unable to create either panic or worry in the markets,” he added.
Albayrak also said Turkey would take every necessary measure to ease the pressure on the markets and its citizens.