Turkish lira keeps sliding, hits historic lows amid pandemic

LONDON (AP) — Turkey’s currency has tumbled further hitting record lows two days in a row. The Turkish lira dropped to a historic low of 7.3677 against the dollar Friday before recovering slightly. The lira is down about 19% versus the U.S. currency since the beginning of the year. The drop is fueled by high inflation, a wide current account deficit and the government’s push for cheap credit to drive and economy that was already fragile before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Analysts have expressed concern over the level of Turkey’s reserves and over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aversion to high interest rates.