Middle East Newsletter: Bank Firings Topple Turkish Lira

The Turkish lira is set for another rollercoaster ride after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s midnight firing of three members of the central bank’s rate-setting committee. The move sent the currency to new lows last week.

Erdogan has long-touted an unconventional view that high interest rates are the main cause of rising prices and so lowering them will slow inflation. Traders and analysts say the president’s latest decision paves the way for more currency weakness.

The central bank is expected to cut the benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 17% at its next meeting on Oct. 21, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.