Turkey’s lira sinks to historic low

Turkey’s central bank once again slashed interest rates on Thursday despite repeated warnings from economists that lower rates — and a weaker currency — tend to worsen inflation, sending the Turkish lira to historic lows against the US dollar.

The central bank seems to be driven by the unorthodox policies of Turkish President Erdogan, who believes that lower rates are the only way to curb inflation. Meanwhile, the decline in the lira’s value and skyrocketing inflation are hurting Turkish households and businesses.

Piotr Zalewski joins our host Thanos Davelis to look into the drastic decline in the value of the lira over the last months and years, Erdogan’s unorthodox economic policies and the influence he wields over the central bank, and how these developments are impacting Turkish households and consumers.

Piotr Zalewski is the Turkey correspondent for The Economist.