Turkish Lira Nosedives Near Lowest Level in History

The Turkish lira fell during Wednesday's trading more than 1.5% against the US dollar near a record low.

The Turkish currency continues to decline for the fifth consecutive day after Turkey's Banking Regulatory Authority imposed more restrictions on foreign access to local markets, which increased investor fears about the depletion of reserves.

The country’s reserves, including gold, have plunged by almost $19 billion this year to $86 billion. Meantime, concerns arise as Turkey faces $170 billion in external debt service costs this year.

Moreover, this comes in light of the pressures posed by the coronavirus on the economy, with the number of infected exceeding 132,000 cases and 3,584 deaths so far.

Turkey has started to ease some measures gradually regarding pandemic closures, which could push its economy to a second recession in less than two years.

By the end of today's trading, the Turkish lira fell against the dollar by 1.5 % to 7.1803 lira after it recorded the level of 7.1951 lira, the lowest level since August 2018.

The decline brought to mind the currency crisis that pushed the lira in August 2018 to an all-time low at 7.24 lira.

It is noteworthy that the losses of the Turkish currency have reached more than 20% since the beginning of this year.