Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed on Thursday to take additional steps to prevent fluctuation in foreign exchange rates against the Turkish lira.
The Turkish president stressed that the Central Bank is independent, reiterating his commitment to taking appropriate decisions to steer Turkey out of the current situation.
“We’re moving from a consumer economy into a manufacturing one,” said Erdoğan during his speech in Ankara.
“We are struggling to solve all the issues affecting our economy without going beyond the boundaries of the free market system," said Erdoğan as he pointed that Turkey embraced free market principles under the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
Erdoğan signed a decree early Thursday that requires using the lira for buying, selling and renting of real estate and leasing of vehicles, according to presidential sources.
The Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates. On Sept. 3, the bank announced that it will continue to use all available instruments in pursuit of the price stability objective.
The lira has lost more than 40 percent of its value against the dollar this year over a diplomatic spat between Ankara and Washington, but gained ground against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's monetary policy committee meeting of the Turkish Central Bank.
Turkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations following Washington’s imposition of sanctions on two government ministers for not releasing American pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces terrorism-related charges in Turkey.
On Aug. 10, President Donald Trump ramped up his attack on Turkey by doubling U.S. tariffs on Turkish aluminum and steel imports.
Turkey increased tariffs on several U.S.-origin products, including alcohol and tobacco products and cars in retaliation.
