Turkish lira plunges 17%

The Turkish lira fell 17% in Asian trade markets after President Tayyip Erdoğan decided to replace the Central Bank head, Report mentions, referring to Reuters.

The US dollar exchange rate against the Turkish currency rose from 7.22 lira to 8.34 lira on Friday and will almost renew the historical minimum shown in November last year.

On March 18, the Central Bank of Turkey raised the discount rate from 17% to 19%. After that, Erdoğan fired the head of the regulator, Naci Ağbal. The new chairman of the Central Bank was Şahap Kavcıoğlu, who had previously spoken out against the interest rate hike. Thus, he became the fourth person to be appointed head of the Central Bank in 20 months.