Turkey's beleaguered lira extended its biggest rally of the year on Monday in response to a new rule that effectively forces many banks to part with some of their foreign currency. The banking regulation – announced after the market had closed on Friday night – represents Turkey's latest attempt to prop up the lira without raising the main interest rate. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pressure on the central bank to keep borrowing costs well below the rate of inflation has sparked an economic crisis that has seen the lira slump and prices explode. Erdogan rejects conventional economics and affirms that high interest rates cause inflation instead of slowing it down. The annual rate of consumer price increases now officially stands at 73.5 per cent. Independent economists believe it could be nearly double that figure. The dollar dropped to 16.1 liras early on Monday before recovering slightly and trading around the 16.7 mark. The US currency was worth around 17.4 liras before the measure was announced. It stood at 7.4 liras at the start of last year and 5.9 liras in January 2020. Turkey's real interest rate of -59.5 per cent provides a major incentive for consumers to spend...