Turkey Cash Headache Shows Inflation Fight Is Getting Physical

  • Highest-denominated banknote represents over 80% of all cash
  • Turkish officials face calls to start printing bigger bills
A trolley loaded with banknotes at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul on Nov. 18.Photographer: Ugur Yilmaz/Bloomberg
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Years of runaway inflation are testing the physical limits of Turkey’s cash-centric economy as its biggest banknotes become increasingly inadequate to cover even daily spending.

The highest-denominated bill, for 200 liras ($5.80), now represents more than 80% of all cash in circulation, up from 16% in 2010, according to central bank data.