Erdogan urges Turkish people to save in lira
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Turks to keep all their savings in lira, as the country's domestic currency has lost over 40% of its value this year.
"I want all my citizens to keep their savings in our own money, to run all their business with our own money, and I recommend this," Erdogan said in his address to a business group in Istanbul on Friday. "Let's not forget this: as long as we don't take our own money as a benchmark, we are doomed to sink. The Turkish lira, our money, that is what we will go forward with. Not with this foreign currency, that foreign currency."
Erdogan also called on Turkish people to bring their gold savings into the banking system.
"The more we bring back to our economy, the 5,000 tons of gold kept under the mattress, the stronger our country and nation will be," he added.
Referring to the recent exchange rate volatility, Erdogan said the matter was largely under control.
The Turkish leader reiterated his view that interest rates were behind inflation.
"For some time, we have been waging the battle of saving the Turkish economy from the cycle of high interest rates and high inflation, and taking it on the path of growth through investment, employment, production, exports, and current account surplus," he said.
"Interest rates down, interest rates up. My friends, let us please take this out of our books. Interest rates make the rich richer and the poor poorer," he added.
Lira has lost more than 40% of its value this year. Some blame the crisis on Erdogan's decision to lower interest rates. Ankara, however, blames what it calls foreign plots against Turkey to weaken its economy and "bring the country to its knees."
UN experts urge Israel to allow Freedom Flotilla’s ships to safely reach Gaza
Iraq won’t tolerate violation of its sovereignty, PM tells Erdogan
New Freedom Flotilla to set sail for Gaza in defiance of Israel's naval blockade
Syrian president, Bahrain FM discuss expansion of bilateral relations
Sudan demands UNSC emergency meeting on UAE ‘aggression’
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
17,000 children left unaccompanied in Gaza amid Israel’s war: UN agency
Iraq’s lawmakers call for expulsion of US ambassador
Hundreds of students arrested as Gaza war campus protests spread in US
Israeli settlers break into al-Aqsa Mosque to celebrate Jewish holiday
Iran’s Futsal team crested 2024 AFC Futsal Asian Cup winner
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
