Lira Surges as Turkish Rate Hike Caps Day of Chaos for Erdogan
- Central bank appears to defy president by cranking up rates
- Decision follows snap decree curbing use of dollars, euros
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Turkey’s central bank appeared to defy President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by jacking up rates more than expected to lift the flagging lira, capping a day of chaos that started with a ban on conducting business in dollars and euros.
The country’s Monetary Policy Committee raised the one-week repo rate by 625 basis points to 24 percent, almost double expectations in a Bloomberg survey. The lira, among the world’s worst performers this year, jumped 2.5 percent against the dollar.