Lira Options Show World’s Worst Currency May Extend Declines
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The strategists who predicted this month’s tumble in the lira say more declines are likely as Turkey’s failure to cut its record current-account deficit erodes investor confidence.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Societe Generale SA say the lira may drop as much as 4.8 percent to 1.80 per dollar, extending a 5.3 percent retreat in July, the biggest worldwide. Traders are paying the most in a year to protect against lira depreciation in the options market, with contracts suggesting a 69 percent chance that the currency will weaken to 1.80 by the end of 2012, from 1.7139 yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The lira hit an all-time low of 1.8243 in March 2009.