Erdoğan orders probe into Turkish lira's slump

Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered an investigation into possible currency manipulation after the lira fell sharply to record lows against the dollar. 

Erdoğan on Nov. 27 tasked the State Supervisory Council, an auditing agency that reports to the presidency, to identify institutions that had bought large amounts of foreign currency and to determine whether any manipulation had occurred.

The lira plunged to record lows last week after Erdoğan pledged to stick with a policy of easing interest rates. It has lost as much as 45% of its value this year, with about half of those losses in the last two weeks.

The currency fell as far as 13.45 to the dollar in a historic 15% selloff on Nov. 23 that followed a speech in which Erdoğan defended the central bank's move to slash its policy rate to 15%, despite inflation of 20%.

During the speech, he said Turkey was fighting an "economic war of independence" and would not yield to pressure to change course.

"We are seeing the games that are being played over the exchange rate, interest rates and price rises by those who want to push our country out of the equation," he said.

Turkey's State Supervisory Council can demand that organizations present relevant information and documents, and will forward its findings to relevant authorities.

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