ANKARA: Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan on Friday criticised the central bank governor for making predictions about the value of the national currency lira against the US dollar.
"I wish he hadn't speculated about a number," Caglayan said. Last month, central bank governor Erdem Basci said the lira could rally to 1.92 to the dollar, or even stronger, at the end of this year.
But his comments were far from convincing the markets. The lira continued to sag and touched a record low of 2.08 at the beginning of this month.
Turkey and a number of other countries have been buffetted as the impending tapering of US monetary stimulus has seen investors pull money out of emerging markets.
The prospects of war against neighbouring Syria have also dampened sentiment. Analysts also say the Turkish economy is particularly vulnerable due to its dependence upon foreign funds to cover its big current account deficit.
The central bank, statutorily independent, has been under pressure from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government which had said repeatedly that the bank would do everything necessary to hold interest rates down to sustain growth which has slowed sharply in recent years.
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