Turkey central bank ‘lira weakening’ temporary

ISTANBUL: Turkish Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci said on Saturday that any further weakening of the lira currency, which is down 17 percent against the dollar so far this year, would be temporary.

"Fundamentally if the lira weakens further, it will be temporary and we can easily say that within a year's time-frame it will start relatively appreciating again," the governor told journalists after a meeting organised by the Turkish Industry and Business Association.

The lira has fallen sharply since the central bank took a dovish policy stance as a precaution against global economic woes, with fears growing that the euro zone crisis could tip the world into recession.

Recent electricity and natural gas price hikes are within the range assumed in the bank's inflation forecasts, Basci said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011