Lira weakens to new record low

ISTANBUL: Turkey's lira weakened to a new record low on Thursday, as data showed inflation remained lofty in August and investors weighed whether the central bank would continue its backdoor tightening steps. The lira weakened some 0.25% to 7.4100 against the dollar at 0744 GMT, its weakest level on record, from a close of 7.3910 on Wednesday.

The currency has lost some 20% of its value so far this year. The central bank has tightened policy through backdoor steps to support the lira but kept its policy rate unchanged in last month's meeting.