Faced with instability, gold is the favourite investment of the Turks

On 22 March, the dismissal of the country’s central bank governor triggered a spectacular fall in the Turkish lira, around 10% in a single day. Confusion has reigned since, and at a recent congress President Erdoğan appealed to economic patriotism, asking the Turkish people to “sell their foreign currency and their gold to invest in the national economy and in production”. It is an instruction the Turks do not appear ready to follow. The website T24 relayed a survey indicating that, if they had money to place, 40% of those questioned would put it in gold, 20% in dollars and only 11% would keep it in Turkish lira. Gold can fairly be called the favourite investment of the Turks. Recent economic and financial instability has hit the country hard, and gold is a refuge when confidence in the national currency falters. The metal has gained 12% in Turkish lira over the last ten days.