Desperate measures are in the air in Turkey: trading rooms are awash with talk of a bailout by the International Monetary Fund and potential capital controls. But there’s a vacuum at the core of economic policymaking.
The central bank and government have remained largely silent as the currency plummeted to record lows and the U.S. imposed sanctions and threatened more. The lira rebounded after falling by the most in a decade on Aug. 6, getting a lift from news that Turkish officials were headed to Washington for talks. The yield on 10-year bonds surged above 20 percent to an all-time high.
