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The Grand Turk
Turkish lira tumbles as Turkey-US rift continues
2018-08-10
When America gets a cold... or just sneezes once because of the dust in the air. Sultan Erdogan I “the much beloved” would be considering how to turn this around if he were clever instead of ambitious. But he’s not, so the gods of the copybook headings will have their way.
[PRESSTV] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's lira tumbled to another record low against the dollar on Thursday after a Ottoman Turkish delegation returned from meeting US officials in Washington with no apparent solution to a diplomatic rift that has opened up between them.

The two governments are at odds over the detention in Turkey of US evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson on terrorism charges, and the rift has deepened investor concerns about Turkey's future under President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
The lira stood at 5.4650 against the dollar at 1356 GMT, down more than 3 percent from the previous day's close and after sliding to an all-time low of 5.48.

The delegation of Ottoman Turkish officials arrived back in Turkey on Thursday, a source from the foreign ministry said, a day after it met with officials from the US State Department and Treasury to try to resolve disputes between the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
 allies.

There was no immediate comment from Ankara on whether the meetings were successful.

The lira has lost nearly a third of its value this year, mainly fuelled by worries about Erdogan's influence over monetary policy.

"You have some very odd politics with the President interfering with monetary policy - they are picking fights with Europe, they are picking fights with the Americans," said Paul McNamara, an investment director at GAM London Limited.

More, from CNBC: Turkey's currency drops 9% as Erdogan calls for citizens to convert dollars 'beneath your pillows' to lira
Posted by:Fred

#6  I don't know how much of its GDP consists of imports

Ask and ye shall receive, Tom. From the CIA World Factbook, ome of my favourite sources:

GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.133 trillion (2017 est.)

Exports: $157.3 billion (2017 est.)
Exports - commodities:
apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment
Exports - partners:
Germany 9.6%, UK 6.1%, UAE 5.9%, Iraq 5.8%, US 5.5%, Italy 5.4%, France 4.2%, Spain 4% (2017)

Imports: $196.8 billion (2017 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport equipment
Imports - partners:
China 10%, Germany 9.1%, Russia 8.4%, US 5.1%, Italy 4.8% (2017)
Posted by: trailing wife   2018-08-10 14:42  

#5  I don't know how much of its GDP consists of imports; but they all got quite a bit more expensive in the last week, severely biting into the average Turk's purchasing power.

And as Zimbabwe or Venezuela can tell you, once inflation gets started, well, watch out!
Posted by: Tom   2018-08-10 12:27  

#4  "How much for a turkish coffee?"
"Forty thousand AllahBucks"
Posted by: Frank G   2018-08-10 11:34  

#3  Erdogan said today (exiting a mosque) something like, "the enemy has dollars but we have Allah".

that should work out swell
Posted by: lord garth   2018-08-10 11:06  

#2  Erdogan said Turkey was facing an "economic war" and noted the country would respond to those countries who had started it.

The sharp drop in Turkish assets came after a delegation returned from Washington with no apparent progress on the detention of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who is charged with supporting a group blamed for an attempted coup in 2016.

President Thomas Jefferson sent the Marines to the shores of Tripoli in 1805 to get back our citizens held by the Barbary pirates. President Obama destroyed Libya and enabled the murder of Muammar Kaddafy in 2011, actions from which the country may take a generation or more to recover. President Sultan Erdogan I “the much beloved” would be grateful that President Trump is merely announcing steep tariffs on two of Turkey’s exports, if he were wise — he could have pulled an Obama in the face of Turkey’s insolence -- but Mr. Erdogan still has visions of a restored Ottoman caliphate.
Posted by: trailing wife   2018-08-10 10:39  

#1  The Turkish lira added to its steep losses on Friday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked citizens to convert their dollars and other foreign currencies as well as gold holdings to local lira.

"Change the euros, the dollars and the gold that you are keeping beneath your pillows into lira at our banks. This is a domestic and national struggle," Erdogan said, according to an Associated Press translation.

The lira traded down 9 percent against the U.S. dollar at 6.04 following Erdogan's remarks and briefly fell more than 12 percent. The currency had already declined sharply against the greenback before Erdogan's latest comments.

Erdogan said Turkey was facing an "economic war" and noted the country would respond to those countries who had started it.

That damn cat Gulen! Of course you'd want to go out and convert your stable gold and dollars to a plunging lira, amiright?
Posted by: Frank G   2018-08-10 08:43  

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