The Turkish lira topped 8.21 against its US peer to start the trading week as the fallout over the termination of the nation’s third central bank chief in a year continues. Despite desperate pleas from leaders to adopt a wait-and-see attitude ahead of next month’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) policy meeting, foreign investors have continued to hit the sell button on both the lira and the broader economy.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again called on citizens to convert their gold and foreign exchange holdings into lira-denominated assets through their financial institutions.

Erdogan called it a “win-win” strategy for both the population and the national economy.

This comes only days after the president assured the public that the volatility occurring in the financial markets is not a reflection of the country’s growth. Erdogan also encouraged foreign investors to keep their capital in Ankara.

I call on foreign investors who invest in our country to trust Turkey’s power and potential. The fluctuations of the past few days most definitely do not reflect the fundamentals of Turkey’s economy, real dynamics, potential or its tomorrow.

Over the weekend, new central bank head Sahap Kavcioglu spoke in an interview with Bloomberg News, telling the business news network that investors should not automatically expect a cut to interest rates at the April policy meeting. Kavcioglu, a university banking professor and pro-government newspaper columnist, stated that the MPC would follow the data before making any decision.

I do not approve a prejudiced approach to MPC decisions in April or the following months, that a rate cut will be delivered immediately.

In the new period, we will continue to make our decisions with a corporate monetary policy perspective to ensure a permanent fall in inflation. In this respect, we will also monitor the effects of the policy steps taken so far.

Will his central bank burn through its foreign exchange reserves that have topped $50 billion for the last two months? He explained that the institution would maintain the same objectives as before: financial stability.

In addition, the Central Bank may use reserve-boosting tools under appropriate conditions, with prior and proper communication thereof.

The USD/TRY currency pair was flat 0.32% to 8.2102, from an opening of 8.2085, at 20:05 GMT on Monday. The EUR/TRY currency pair fell 0.03% to 9.6565, from an opening of 9.6569.