The Turkish lira plunged 20% Friday after President Trump announced he would be doubling the import tariff on metal produced in that country, sending Turkey’s currency to a record low against the US dollar.
Turkish President Erdogan urged all residents to rapidly convert dollars and other foreign currency into liras, saying the nation was facing an escalating financial crisis that would likely get worse in the coming weeks.
“Change the euros, the dollars and the gold that you are keeping beneath your pillows into lira at our banks. This is a domestic and national struggle,” Erdogan said according to CNBC.
The President announced the stiff tariffs on social media Friday morning, saying he was “authorizing a doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum with respect to Turkey.”
I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar! Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018
The President threatened to levy harsh tariffs on Turkey last month, demanding the release of an American pastor currently held by Erdogan’s government.
Read the full story at CNBC.
IRAN CRISIS: Tehran on EDGE as Currency PLUNGES 18% in 2 Days
Iran’s currency continued to plummet Tuesday as the country struggled to contain an escalating financial crisis; plunging nearly 20% in just two days as calls for President Rouhani to step-in and stabilize the economy grow.
According to Bloomberg, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard -in a break from tradition- demanded Rouhani get a grip on the widening crisis as the Iranian rial dropped 18% since the beginning of the week.
The currency is now at an all-time low, hitting exchange rates of 116,000 rials for just $1. In January, the rate was 42,900 rials for $1.
“The unique and extensive backing you benefited from in past weeks shouldn’t preclude you from taking revolutionary actions to control prices and prevent the enormous increase in the price of foreign currency and gold,” said the IRG.
“Decision-making in today’s difficult circumstances necessitates revolutionary determination and decisiveness in dealing with certain managers’ weaknesses,” added Guard commander Mohammad Jafari.
Read the full report here.
KIM’S CASH CRISIS: North Korea ‘RUNNING OUT’ of Currency, BROKE by October
Recently passed sanctions by the United Nations and crippling new guidelines by the United States are slowly pushing Kim Jong Un’s brutal regime to the brink, with South Korean lawmakers saying the Hermit Kingdom will be totally broke by October 2018.
According to Fox News, South Korean legislator Kang Seok-ho informed his fellow lawmakers that North Korea is slowly running out of currency and will be unable to operate this fall; adding Kim’s recent “olive branch” to Seoul during the Winter Olympics was part of an elaborate ruse to buy the communist regime more time.
“I received an analysis that, if international sanctions against the North continue like this, all of North Korea’s foreign currency earnings and overseas assets will be frozen, and its dollar [reserves] will dry up around October,” Kang said.
“At a time like this, our government should further strengthen cooperation with the international community on sanctions against the North,” he added.
Stories of Kim’s drastic economic troubles surfaced earlier this year, with reports of North Korean soldiers foraging the forests and looting local residents after food supplies ran dry and oil rations dwindled.
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