ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira lost some 0.4% of its value against the dollar on Monday and hit its weakest level since July 9, under pressure from a stronger dollar ahead of a Turkish central bank rate-setting meeting this week.

The lira weakened to 8.6835 from Friday's close of 8.65. It has shed nearly 3% against the greenback in three trading sessions.

Turkey's central bank is expected to keep its one-week repo rate unchanged at 19% on Thursday, a Reuters poll showed, though concerns about possible near-term monetary easing increased after recent comments by Governor Sahap Kavcioglu.

Turkish lira tumbles over central banker’s comments

The dollar rallied to a month-high in Asia as looming catastrophe at indebted developer China Evergrande added extra nerves to a cautious mood, with investors bracing for the Federal Reserve to take another step towards tapering this week.