Turkish lira falls to historic low against US dollar

ANKARA 

The Turkish lira dropped to a historic low against the U.S. dollar on Thursday.

Starting the day at 2.7779, the Turkish lira hit 2.8213 in afternoon trading, then came back to about 2.808 against the U.S. currency.

Analysts say one possible cause of the decline is that emerging market currencies have been under pressure this week, in the wake of the devaluation of Chinese renminbi. The Chinese currency was devalued three times this week, with a total loss of about 5 percent against the dollar.

All emerging market currencies have lost value this year against major currencies.

The Colombian peso has shed 22 percent of its value against the dollar since January 1. The Turkish lira is down about 19 percent over the same period. The Brazilian real is down 25 percent. The Mexican peso declined 8.6 percent.