Lira has fallen 8.5 since Thursday rate hike
Rate hiked to 15 vs Reuters poll f39;cast of 21
Bigger hike could have caused trouble for banks official

ISTANBUL, June 23 Reuters Turkey39;s lira weakened as much as 3.3 to a record low on Friday, extending losses a day after the central bank39;s large rate hike failed to assure markets that President Tayyip Erdogan was abandoning his longheld unorthodox policies.

The lira touched a record low of 25.74 against the dollar at 1006 GMT, down some 27.3 this year, and was at 25.6480 at 1039 GMT.

The central bank raised its key rate by a hefty 650 basis points to 15 on Thursday, falling well short of expectations of a larger initial tightening that analysts said would have underlined a longerterm commitment to battle inflation.

The transition appears to be more gradual than we had thought, Goldman Sachs said in a note.

The central bank said it would go further in a timely and gradual manner after its first meeting under new Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, whom Erdogan appointed after his election victory last month.

New Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, who is highly regarded by financial markets reinforced the Uturn message saying, the path towards price stability is going to be gradual but steadfast.

The move marked a change in course after years of monetary easing in which the oneweek repo rate had been cut to 8.5 from 19 in 2021 despite soaring inflation.

In a Reuters poll, the median estimate was for a hike to 21….