Turkish Finance Ministry: action plan to support lira underway

Turkey has drafted a economic action plan and will start implementing it this morning to ease investor concerns, the country's Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said.

In an interview with Hurriyet newspaper, Albayrak described the lira's weakness as "an attack," and said the action plan was ready.

"From Monday morning onwards our institutions will take the necessary steps and will share the announcements with the market," Albayrak said, without giving details on what the steps would be.

Albayrak also said a plan has been prepared for banks and the real economy sector, including small to mid-sized businesses which are most affected by the foreign exchange fluctuations. "We will be taking the necessary steps with our banks and banking watchdog in a speedy manner," he said.

The minister also dismissed any suggestions that Turkey might intervene in dollar-denominated bank accounts, saying any seizure or conversion of those deposits into lira was out of the question.

Albayrak said budget policies were important to support and strengthen the central bank's monetary policies. "We will be entering a strong period in terms of fiscal policies," he said.

The currency has lost more than 45% of its value this year. On Friday, the lira tumbled as much as 18% at one point, its biggest daily drop since 2001.