Turkish lira slides to record dollar low

Turkey’s embattled lira hit a new all-time low in value against the dollar on Tuesday as the country’s central bank comes under government pressure to cut interest rates.

The lira lost 1.2 percent to trade at 2.5048 to the dollar, weakening to a second record low in as many days and breaking through the psychological 2.5 barrier.

Against the euro, the currency lost 0.8 percent in value to trade at 2.8293 lira to the single European currency.

The currency has sunk to a series of historic lows during the past month, following statements by government officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who urged the central bank to aggressively cut interest rates.

It has lost more than 3 percent of its value against the dollar since mid-December.

But bank has so far resisted aggressive rate cuts, cancelling last week an extraordinary meeting before its regular meeting scheduled for February 24.

The lira, with other emerging market currencies, has also been hit by expectations that the US Federal Reserve will begin to raise interest rates by mid-2015.