Turkish lira hits 8-week high against US dollar

By Bahattin Gonultas

ANKARA

The Turkish lira advanced to an eight-week high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday.

The dollar started the day by losing ground against the lira; the exchange rate decreased by 0.32 percent to reach 3.5585.

The rise in lira comes a day after the country's central bank raised its late liquidity lending rate to 12.25 percent at its Monetary Policy Committee (PPK) meeting, the decision that gives it additional flexibility in case of future pressure on the lira.

The exchange rate had hovered between 3.65 and 3.58 over the past three days and started trading at 3.5703 as of 9 a.m. (0600GMT) Thursday morning.

Analysts say the rise in the lira may continue in the coming days and the exchange rate may fall further to 3.50 in the week.