Turkish lira hits fresh record low against the U.S. dollar

The Turkish lira hit a fresh record low against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, trading at 30.005 to the greenback just before noon local time.

It marks the first time that the lira has broken 30 against the dollar, which was up 0.17% against the Turkish currency from the previous day’s session.

The beleaguered lira has fallen some 37% against the U.S. benchmark over the past year, as monetary policymakers try to combat double-digit inflation by steadily raising interest rates.

The more conventional approach follows several years of unorthodox policy during which Ankara refused to tighten rates despite ballooning inflation, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan routinely called interest rate rises “the mother of all evil.”

This is a breaking news item and will be updated shortly.