Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Turkey bans sale, rental of real estate in foreign currencies


Thu 13 Sep 2018 | 12:30 PM
Taarek Refaat

ANKARA, Sept 12 (SEE)- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Thursday banning the sale and leasing of local property in foreign currencies in an attempt to save the lira.

According to the Turkish Gazette, the decision would require the conversion of all foreign currency sales and lease contracts into lira within 30 days.

Foreign currency sales and rentals are common in Turkey, particularly in the retail sector.

This year, the Turkish currency saw a 40% sharp decline against the US dollar, in addition to economic difficulties suffered by Ankara, most notably inflation.

This morning, the Lira fell roughly 0.4 percent against the dollar standing at 6.3688.

The Turkish central bank will hold a monetary policy meeting later today amid expectations of higher interest rates.

The decision also included business and services contracts.