Turkish lira trades near record low against dollar

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s lira traded near a record low after briefly hitting 20.65 against the dollar early on Wednesday during low liquidity trade, extending losses after President Tayyip Erdogan won an election runoff to maintain his rule into a third decade.

The lira edged back to 20.62 by 0412 GMT still some 1% weaker from Tuesday’s close of 20.42. It had already weakened from mid-May over the direction of economic policies after the initial round of elections.

Turkish lira’s long decline a symbol of strife

The lira has tumbled more than 9% since the start of the year and lost more than 90% of its value over the past decade, with the economy in the grip of boom-and-bust cycles and bouts of rampant inflation.