The Turkish government emptied people's pockets

Turkish citizens are frantically trying to find ways to cope as the lira continues a downward slide. The currency lost half its value against the dollar this year, falling almost 30% in November alone.

Those without foreign currency or gold to sell are finding other ways to cut down, avoiding buying meat or turning to government-subsidized bread stands for sustenance. While the value of their money plummets, inflation has soared to 21%.

As the lira plummeted, gold traders have begun to sell in ever-smaller increments. One vendor on Istanbul’s busy Istiklal shopping street holds up their current most popular items, tiny ingots weighing two grams, one gram and a miniature half-gram bar, the latter on sale at that moment for 480 lira (£22).

Turkey's Central Bank has responded with a series of cuts to the base interest rate in defiance of economic convention. After slashing it from 19% at the start of September to 15%, it was trimmed again to 15% on Thursday, driving the lira to a new lows.

On Saturday, Turkey's largest business group TUSIAD called on the government to abandon the low rates policy and return to "rules of economic science".

The lira declined 8% on Friday while the central bank declared they had intervened to prop up the currency for the fifth time in a month. Turkey’s stock market, the Borsa, was twice forced to halt trading to prevent further losses.

Thousands protested in Istanbul and the southeastern city of Diyarbakir at the weekend over the surging cost of living. Some ferry lines operating from and in Istanbul were halted on Sunday over unsustainable costs stemming from the lira crash, operators said.

The government’s promises of an economic boom are proving increasingly unpopular with the Turkish electorate, and appear likely to affect an election anticipated in 2023, if not before.