Turkish lira drops to record low due to political uncertainty

Turkish lira dropped to a record low on Monday against both the euro and the U.S. dollar due to uncertainty ahead of snap elections and security concerns in the country, as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates this week.

The U.S. dollar reached a record high level against Turkish lira at 3.0689 before recovering some ground, which previously reached 3.0610 on September 10.

Meanwhile, the euro reached as high as 3.4776 against Turkish lira for the first time since August 24.

The lira has lost almost 30 percent in its value against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of this year, reducing to one of the worst performing currency in the emerging market.

Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has warned of potential economic losses, saying "unless we maintain political stability and return to a reform agenda again, we cannot preserve existing economic gains ... We can leave the 2023 economic targets outside."

"Political instability and conflicts in southeastern Turkey have led to insecurity in markets and foreign investors have started to withdraw their investments from the country," Hakki Ozturk, economist from Bahcesehir University, told Xinhua.

However, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci stressed that there was no sign of crisis in basic indicators, including current account deficit, growth figures, employment data, banks' capital ratios and the Turkish Central Bank's reserves. Endit