The Turkish lira continued its decline on Thursday, bringing year-to-date losses against the dollar to more than 50%, as meetings between Turkish and U.S. officials produced few results.
USD/TRY was up 2.50% at 5.4122 by 4:42 AM ET (8:42 GMT), hovering just below an earlier record high of 5.4486.
A Turkish delegation went to Washington on Wednesday to try and resolve disputes between the two nations. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Turkey over the continued detention of American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson for terrorism charges while his trial continues in western Turkey.
The U.S. Treasury implemented sanctions on Turkish ministers of justice and interior, with Washington branding the detention as “unfair and unjust”.
Little progress was made at Wednesday’s meeting according to a Reuters report.
“We held additional talks with Turkish officials. The conversations continue,” state department spokesperson Heather Nauert said.
Thursday’s decline occurred amid sharp losses in other emerging market currencies.
Of note, the Russian rouble extended sharp losses seen on Wednesday when the U.S. announced that would impose fresh sanctions on Russia after Washington determined Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, in Britain.
Russia’s embassy in the U.S. said Thursday that the accusations were far-fetched and called the new sanctions draconian.
USD/RUB gained 0.82% to 66.0847. Earlier the pair marked 66.6500, its highest level since August 2016.
