The Turkish lira showed signs of life on Tuesday morning after a dramatic plunge over the past few days, with an absolute low registered on Monday. The current rate stands at $6.53, according to Xe.com, with the US dollar being 5 percent down from a $7.24 mark.
READ MORE: Turkey's Solution to Lira Crisis Will Be to Dedollarize Its Economy — Economist
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced later in the day that his country will boycott US electronic goods, citing “an economic attack” against his country. He continued to say that Turks will instead opt for locally produced gadgets or those manufactured by Turkish economic partners, possibly “new” ones, in a bid to strengthen the lira.
In a separate statement on Monday, Erdogan told ambassadors at the Presidential Palace that there were, what he called “economic terrorists” on social media plotting to harm the national economy with false rumors of the government allegedly set to establish capital controls as a countermeasure against the decline of the lira. He notably vowed to take legal action against individuals that threaten the country’s economy.
The 20 percent drop of the Turkish national currency followed an intensified tariff debate and a diplomatic row between Ankara and Washington in the wake of the detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey, who considers him to be linked to the movement of Fethullah Gulen. Ankara accused Gulen of plotting the 2016 failed military coup. On top of that, a number of contradictions have evolved in relations since the purchase of Russian-made weapons by the Turks.
Most recently, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to report that he had authorized "a doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum with respect to Turkey," prompting Erdogan to respond by saying that the move is essentially against WTO regulations and that Turkey might therefore search for new friends and allies in the sector.
