Turkish president Erdogan out on Reuters 7 Dec
- does not see any serious economic reason for recent rise in USDTRY
Rule 1 Mr President - FX moves are rarely dictated by economic fundamentals
The lira had its worst month since the 2008 financial crisis in November and has lost a fifth of its value this year, hit by a resurgent dollar and investor concern about Turkey's stability after the coup attempt.
Erdogan has urged Turks to convert any dollars "under their pillows" into lira, and called on businesses to do more transactions in local currency.
"Since the crisis operation is being carried out through foreign currency, we must use our own currency wherever we can," Erdogan said in a speech on Saturday,
Several restaurants and barber shops in Istanbul suburbs have been offering free lunches and hair cuts to clients with a receipt showing they had sold dollars. One fisherman in Ankara said he had given free fish to dozens of people over the past few days as part of the same campaign.A stonemason in the northwestern province of Bursa is offering free tombstones to clients who convert 2,000 dollars
More from Reuters here
No Turkish delight for the beleaguered lira
