'Convert your money into lira' — Erdogan urges Turks

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on Turks on Saturday to convert their dollar and euro savings into lira, as he sought to bolster the ailing currency which has lost some 20 percent of its value against the US currency this year.

"My brothers who have dollars or euros under their pillow. Go and convert your money into lira," Erdogan said at a rally in the eastern city of Erzurum ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24.

"We will thwart this game together."

Efforts to stabilise economy

At the beginning of the year, the USD/TRY rate was 3.78 while the average rate was 3.65 in 2017.

The Turkish Central Bank has already announced an increase on late liquidity window interest rates by three percentage points in hope to maintain the value of lira against foreign currencies.

Erdogan's call comes after the governing Justice and Development (AK) Party announced a package of economic measures in the run-up to the June 24 elections in order to decrease the budget deficit and currency fluctuations.

Some regulations on the salaries of retired and civil servants are also in the package. 

Manipulations from outside?

Turkish officials have stressed that the fluctuations do not reflect the true state of Turkey's economy, but are due to manipulations from outside.

Turkey's prime minister on Friday blamed "manipulations" for the recent foreign exchange rate volatility ahead of elections, Anadolu Agency reported.

"The volatility in foreign exchange rates is the result of some manipulations, especially ahead of the elections," Binali Yildirim told a rally in the Aegean province of Izmir.

"Our economy is based on strong foundations," Yildirim said.

He said Turkey had made it through the 2008 global financial crisis — the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s — relatively unscathed.