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Once confidence in a currency is lost, it’s hard to get it back. Turkish central bankers are trying hard to hold the public’s confidence in the lira by hiking interest rates to 24%. At The Wall Street Journal,ย David Gauthier-Villars explains the central bankers’ efforts to maintain control. He writes:

The monetary-policy decision could helpย ease investor concernsย over the central bankโ€™s independence from Turkeyโ€™s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose call for lower rates earlier Thursday had weighed heavily on the lira.

โ€œThis was much bigger than expected. It sends a signal to the market and itโ€™s a good signal,โ€ said Kevin Daly, portfolio manager for emerging-market debt at Aberdeen Standard Investments. โ€œIt gives you some confidence in the lira that you might be able to buy this thing again.โ€

The central bank has been under heavy pressure from international investors to raise rates to tame spiraling inflation and stabilize the lira, which has lost about 40% against the dollar this year amid growing investor concerns over the ability of Turkish corporationโ€™s ability to repay hefty foreign currency debt.

Read more here.

Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com.ย