Turkish lira starts weaker after worst year in two decades

ISTANBUL: Turkey's lira weakened 2.7% in its first trades of 2022 after suffering its worst year since President Tayyip Erdogan came to power nearly two decades ago, with concern persisting over surging inflation and unorthodox monetary policy.

At 0556 GMT, the lira stood at 13.5495 against the dollar, weakening from a close of 13.1875 on Friday.

The lira was by far the worst performer in emerging markets in 2021, as well as in the last few years and lost 44% of its value against the U.S. currency over the year. It weakened 19% last week alone.