"Turkey Stems Emerging-Markets Slide" is an article published today by the Wall Street Journal on the economic crisis in Turkey.
"Markets opened with a grim tone. Stocks slumped badly in Asia, and equity markets across Europe were in the red Monday morning. Germany's DAX slipped 0.4%. As the dollar rocketed almost to 2.39 against the ailing lira, the South African rand wilted further and other currencies and bonds were caught in the rush to safety," the article reads.
"It all started as a set of issues around individual countries and currencies, and then it became 'sell everythings that is not G-10,'" the journal quotes Daragh Maher, a currencies analyst at HSBC.
"But the unexpected news that Turkey's central bank will hold a monetary policy meeting stirred expectations that policy makers may opt to raise benchmark interest rates after all—a step they have avoided so far. That boosted the lira to the day's high; the dollar fell back under 2.32 against the lira. It helped the rand to settle, albeit still around five-year lows, under 11.18 to the dollar."
"Turkey's central bank calls emergency meeting over lira plunge" is a report published today at the BBC website.
"The Turkish central bank has called an emergency meeting of its monetary policy committee for Tuesday, following a sharp fall in the lira against the euro and US dollar. The bank said it would "discuss recent developments and take the necessary policy measures for price stability" at the meeting."
"Just last week, the central bank decided to hold rates steady at its rate-setting meeting. Analysts say the central bank is reluctant to raise rates for fear of slowing economic growth ahead of local elections due in March. The government has forecast that Turkish growth will pick up from an expected rate of 3.6% in 2013 to 4% for this year, sharply down from the 8% growth it achieved in both 2010 and 2011. Turkish markets have been hit by an investigation into public sector corruption involving the construction industry," the report reads.
