What the Lira's Plight Says About Turkey's Economy: QuickTake

Turkey has been through a lot over the past few years: a coup attempt, a divisive referendum that concentrated more power in the hands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and spillover from the Syrian civil war on its southern border. But all that doesn’t explain why the lira keeps coming under pressure during every major global selloff. Behind five consecutive years of depreciation is an unbalanced economy that must rely on foreign capital.

It’s been one of the hardest-hit emerging-market currencies, shedding more than 21 percent of its value against the dollar this year. The only currency to fare worse among major peers is the peso in Argentina, where the central bank was forced to raise interest rates and the International Monetary Fund was called in to provide emergency funding.