Investing.com - The Turkish lira tumbled against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday after the country’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate on hold, disappointing markets which had been anticipating a rate hike in the face of a weakening currency.
USD/TRY touched highs of 3.82 following the decision and was last at 3.78, up 0.87% from Monday’s close.
Turkey’s central bank kept the benchmark repo rate steady at 8%. Economists had been hoping for a rate hike of at least 50 basis points to stem the lira's falls.
The bank raised the overnight lending rate to 9.25%.
Turkey’s central bank uses multiple rates to set policy.
"Inflation expectations, pricing behavior and other factors affecting inflation will be closely monitored and, if needed, further monetary tightening will be delivered," the bank said in a statement.
"Moreover, necessary liquidity measures will be taken in case of unhealthy pricing behaviour in the foreign exchange market that cannot be justified by economic fundamentals."
The lira has fallen almost 8% against the dollar so far this year, making it one of the worst performing major emerging market currencies.
The lira touched an all-time low on January 11, when it traded at just below four lira to the dollar.
Emerging markets have been hard hit since Donald Trump’s surprise U.S. presidential election victory in November, as the prospects of rising U.S. interest rates prompted investors to pull cash out of developing economies.
Turkey has become particularly fragile because of high levels of political and economic risk and relatively low central bank reserves to defend its currency.
A string of terror attacks in Turkey, uncertainty over the outlook for economic growth and worries about political instability have all pressured the lira lower.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently urged the country’s central bank to keep interest rates low, despite sharp declines in the lira, saying that access to cheaper credit would help bolster the economy.