Turkish lira weakens to fresh record low on geopolitical concerns

ISTANBUL, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Turkey’s lira touched a fresh record low against the dollar on Wednesday as concerns lingered over the Caucasus conflict and possible U.S. sanctions after a Bloomberg report on that Ankara would begin testing Russian S-400 missile system.

The lira hit a record low of 7.87 against the U.S. currency, weakening from a close of 7.8050 on Wednesday. It is down some 24% this year on worries about Turkey’s depleted forex reserves and geopolitical tensions. It stood at 7.85 at 0657 GMT.

Adding to geopolitical concerns, the tensions between Ankara and the EU appeared to rise on Tuesday, after President Tayyip Erdogan told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that decisions at an EU summit last week were insufficient to overcome disagreements.

Erdogan and the leader of Turkish Cypriots also announced that an abandoned town in Cyprus would be re-opened, drawing condemnation from the Greek Cypriot government and Greece. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun)

source: yahoo.com