(MENAFN- AFP) Turkey's currency the lira hit record lows against the dollar on Monday as markets reacted with anxiety to police raids against media critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The lira lost 3.34 percent in value to trade at 2.38 lira to the dollar, its lowest value since late January when the country was on the verge of a full scale currency crisis.
It had earlier reached lows of 2.39 lira to the dollar, an even lower value than in January before the central bank intervened with an emergency rate hike.
Against the euro, the lira lost 3.0 percent in value to trade at 2.96 lira to the euro.
The arrests of over two dozen journalists, television producers and police on Sunday rattled markets already concerned about Turkey's exposure to emerging market weakness linked to the embattled Russian ruble.
Sentiment on the lira turned even more negative mid-afternoon when Erdogan gave a combative speech blasting the European Union for criticising the arrests.
Further pessimism also came from poor Turkish jobless figures for September released Monday which showed a 10.5 percent unemployment rate, the highest figure since February 2011.
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