Foreign Exchange Guide to Turkey

Turkish Lira (TRY) general currency information

What is the Turkish Lira currency code and symbol?

The three letter currency code for the Turkish Lira is TRY and the symbol is ₺.

Which countries use the Turkish Lira?

It is the domestic currency in Turkey.

The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş.

Global interest in the lira has picked up considerably since the turn of the millennium. By 2016, the lira was the 16th most traded currency in the world. It had been 30th most traded in 2001.

Precious metals remain an important cog in Turkey’s economy. “Turkey is home to the entire gold value chain from mining and refining, to jewellery design and investment,” says the World Gold Council, and this therefore links short and medium-term changes in the lira’s value to the broader commodities cycle.

Short-term changes in the lira are also driven by risk sentiment. As a riskier, emerging market currency, the lira will fall in value against the major currencies of the world (especially JPY, USD, CHF, GBP and EUR) during periods of economic uncertainty or when geopolitical risk is elevated.

It is fair to say about the lira’s long-term value that it is stuck in perpetual decline.

Ravaged by above-100% inflation, the lira lost 97% of its value against the dollar between the mid-1990s and early 2000s. In 2003, with a single dollar buying 1.5 million lira, the Turkish government decided to redenominate, and this took place in January 2005, striking six zeros from the lira.

Post-redenomination, the historic downtrend in the lira persists, barring some stability between 2005 and 2008.

Between January 2008 and January 2017, the lira lost 71% of its updated value as TRY/USD fell from its post-redenomination high of 0.8772 (USD/TRY 1.14) to its post-redenomination low of 0.2538 (USD/TRY 3.94).

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Turkish Lira (TRY) in the markets

The Turkish lira entered crisis mode in August. Between January and August 10th, the lira lost more than 40 percent of its value.

The rate of lira depreciation quickened in the second week of August and volatility skyrocketed after US President Trump announced a doubling of tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium imports. On the news, USD/TRY rose in a single session from 5.55 to an all-time high (lira low) of 6.65.

Reasons for lira weakness are aplenty, and these include high inflation, which now exceeds 15 percent; a deterioration in Washington-Ankara relations; firmer US yields and the firmer dollar, which make foreign loan repayments more expensive; a larger current account deficit; threats to global trade from this year’s massive US tariffs; and suspicions of political interference in matters of monetary policy after Turkey’s central bank stood pat on interest rates at its August meeting (a 100-basis point hike had been fully priced in).

August’s rapid depreciation reflects a “complete lack of confidence,” according to one Radobank analyst. An increase of at least 10 percent to Turkey’s benchmark interest rate is needed quickly, the analyst believes, in order to prevent the currency crisis having “serious inflationary consequences . . . [that] may lead to a financial crisis and recession.”

The interactive chart below shows the USD to TRY exchange rate for the previous 3 months with rate alerts for days when the exchange rate moved up or down significantly or for 30 day highs and lows.

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USD-TRY 3 Month chart

USDTRY currency converter

Sending money to Turkey

When searching around for information on how to get a good exchange rate when sending money to Turkey you need to start with finding out the latest Turkish Lira foreign-transfer exchange rate.

Then compare your bank's exchange rates to several licensed FX providers exchange rate and fees to see how much you can save (we make that calculation easy here).

What prime property does $US1m buy in Istanbul?

The area (㎡) of prime property that $US1million buys in Turkey's capital city Istanbul in Q1 2018 is 110㎡.

This is compared to equivalent areas for Hong Kong 22㎡, London 27㎡, Singapore 37㎡, Paris 45㎡, Shanghai 50㎡, Tokyo 70㎡, Berlin 74㎡, Mumbai 94㎡, Dubai 138㎡ and San Paulo 172㎡.

Get a better deal for foreign transfers to Turkey

When sending money to Turkey it’s important to compare your bank’s rates & fees with those we have negotiated with our partner money transfer providers. To get a better deal you should follow these 4 simple steps :

1. Open an account with a BER reviewed FX provider (id docs may be required)
2. You specify the local or Turkish Lira amount you want to transfer
3. Make a local currency domestic transfer for the requested amount to the provider's bank account in your country
4. Once your funds are received by the provider the converted TRY amount will be transfered to the recipient account you specify in Turkey.

Use our Send to TRY calculator to compare the exchange rates of FX specialist providers rates versus your bank's standard rates you can hopefully save around 5% and maybe more - end result is more Turkish Lira deposited into the recipient bank account and less margins and fees kept by the banks!

Major TRY cross rates