The Turkish lira continued its dive into uncharted territory on Thursday, touching a new low of 9.975 to the dollar after a jump in US inflation exacerbated worries for a currency already hobbled by the central bank's unorthodox rate cuts.
The lira was down as much as 1.2% intraday and near the psychological threshold of 10 versus the US currency.
It has shed two-thirds of its value in five years, eating into the incomes of Turks along with double-digit inflation.
At 1156 GMT, it had pared losses and one dollar was worth 9.88 Turkish lira. Turkey's currency - the worst performer in emerging markets again this year - also neared a record intraday low versus the euro at 11.4386 before rebounding.
The higher-than-expected US inflation data on Wednesday boosted the dollar due to possible earlier policy tightening by the Federal Reserve. Rising US rates tend to pull funds from emerging economies with high foreign debt, like that of Turkey.
The lira has lost 25% of its value this year mainly due to concerns over monetary policy credibility as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed for lower interest rates to boost growth despite inflation running near 20%.
Since September, the central bank has cut its policy rate by a total of 300 basis points to 16%, arguing that the inflationary pressures are temporary.
Analysts expect more easing despite the already deeply negative real rate. A Reuters poll on Thursday showed the bank is expected to cut rates by another 100 points next week to 15%.
"Turkey is increasingly less attractive" for foreign investors, said Cristian Maggio, analyst at TD Securities.
"If there are further rate cuts, real yields could go to negative 500 or 600 basis points. And historically, any level that is so misaligned with the rest of the market doesn't bring good things to Turkey," he said.
