Turkish lira slides on Erdogan comments

istanbul - Bond yields briefly touched their highest in at least 8 years

Turkey's lira slid to a record low and bond yields briefly touched their highest in at least 8 years on Tuesday, after President Tayyip Erdogan said he plans to take greater control of the economy after elections next month.

He said the central bank would not be able to ignore signals from the head of the executive once the switch to a presidential system was complete following the June vote.

"I will take the responsibility as the indisputable head of the executive in respect of the steps to be taken and decisions on these issues," he said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday.

Turkey has called snap presidential and parliamentary elections for June 24 and polls show Erdogan as the strongest candidate to win the presidential vote. Turks narrowly backed a switch to an executive presidency in a referendum last year. That change is due to go into effect after the vote.

His comments helped pushed the ailing lira to a fresh record low of 4.3990 against the dollar, bringing its losses this year to more than 13 per cent.

Yields on 10-year government bonds briefly touched their highest in at least 8 years. - Reuters