Turkey’s embattled currency, the lira, on Tuesday hit new historic lows against the US dollar after Fitch ratings agency expressed concerns over the central bank’s independence in the wake of comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Fitch said that comments by Erdogan last week that he plans to have a greater say in monetary policy if he wins June elections raised the possibility of economic policy becoming more unpredictable after the polls.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV while on a visit to London, Erdogan signaled he wanted to take greater control over monetary and economic policy even if this “may make some uncomfortable”.

“An explicit threat to curb the central bank’s independence increases risks to the policymaking environment and to policy effectiveness,” Fitch said in a statement.

It warned that the president’s comments raised the possibility of “overall economic policy, not just monetary policy, becoming less predictable after the elections.”

After the statement, the Turkish lira hit 4.65 against the dollar after 1300 GMT, a loss of 1.7 percent before it slightly pared back some of its losses to reach 4.63 before 1400 GMT.

The lira has lost over 14.9 percent of its value against the greenback in the past month.

Erdogan has called for low interest rates to ensure strong growth.

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 14:02 - GMT 11:02