Istanbul, April 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Turkish lira fell for a third day to a record, as the government fails to convince investors it can unite to speed reforms and revive the economy.
The lira lost 5 percent to 1,265,000 liras per dollar, traders said, extending its three-day loss to 15 percent. The lira has shed almost half its value since Feb. 22, when the government gave up defending the currency following a jump in money market rates.
The government is trying to forge a new package of reforms to strengthen the economy and win aid from the International Monetary Fund and other lenders. Leaders of the governing coalition last night asked Economy Minister Kemal Dervis to move more quickly, citing concern over the lira, Milliyet daily reported. Dervis said ``good news'' on the program is due next week.
``Dervis's words are not comforting enough to stop the lira's slide,'' said Reyhan Ozdemir, a trader at Interbank. ``When he announces the program next week, then the lira might recover.''
The central bank said it will sell $50 million to banks in an auction today. It has reduced the amount it sells daily from an average of $100 million in the first few weeks after the defense of the lira collapsed.
The bank is trying to prevent further erosion of its reserves and has vowed not to interfere with markets setting a price for the lira, analysts say.
``Foreign banks are bidding up the price as they want to buy dollars,'' said Asli Serbest, a trader at Ottoman Bank. ``Foreigners are more pessimistic about the economy.''
Reform Plans
Efforts to rescue the economy include ending some state monopolies and making lenders more independent, reforms vital to securing the $12 billion in aid from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that Dervis says is needed to stabilize the economy.
Turkey this week said it will push for parliament to approve four reforms to underpin efforts to strengthen the economy. On Friday, Dervis said most of the 15 planned reforms would be passed to the cabinet for approval by the end of Monday.
Parliament said its budget committee approved a law to reform state banks and sent it to the general assembly for final approval.
``The decline in the lira's value is not rational,'' Meltem Citci, a fund manager at Is Invest, said. ``The pressure on the lira is making the politicians work faster and that's the good part.''
The benchmark stock index was little changed, rising 0.3 percent, while the yield on the bill maturing June 26 fell 3 percentage points to 142 percent.
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