Turkish Lira (TRY)

About the Turkish Lira

The Turkish Lira (TRY) is the official currency of Türkiye and is also used de facto in Northern Cyprus. Its symbol is ₺, one lira is divided into 100 kuruş, and banknotes are issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT), founded in 1930. Cash circulates as six banknote denominations from ₺5 to ₺200 and seven coins from 1 kuruş to ₺5 — the ₺5 piece introduced in October 2023 and restyled in June 2024.

The lira has floated since the economic crisis of 2001, with exchange rates determined by supply and demand in the foreign exchange market. The CBRT sets no target for the exchange rate, although it takes measures against excessive appreciation or depreciation of the lira to reduce financial stability risks. Monetary policy centres on inflation targets set jointly with the government for three-year periods: the target for 2024 through 2028 is 5 percent, while annual consumer inflation ended 2024 at 44.38 percent and 2025 at 30.89 percent.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye was established by Law No. 1715 of 11 June 1930 and started functioning on 3 October 1931. To sustain the disinflation process, enhance the credibility of the currency and eliminate the problems of high denominations, the lira was redenominated in two stages: six zeros were removed on 1 January 2005, when New Turkish lira banknotes and New kuruş coins entered circulation, and the prefix "New" was dropped on 1 January 2009.

In the Bank for International Settlements' Triennial Central Bank Survey of April 2025, the lira was on one side of 0.5 percent of global over-the-counter foreign exchange turnover, with daily trading averaging USD 50 billion — the 23rd most traded currency. Its share has fallen sharply across recent surveys: the 2013 survey put the lira at 1.3 percent of global turnover and the 2016 survey at 1.4 percent, against 0.4 percent in 2022.

Banknotes of the E9 Emission Group, first issued on 1 January 2009, circulate in denominations of ₺5, ₺10, ₺20, ₺50, ₺100 and ₺200. Every note carries a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on the front, while the backs depict figures from Turkish science and culture, from the mathematician Cahit Arf on the ₺10 to the poet Yunus Emre on the ₺200. Coins run from 1 kuruş to 1 lira, joined by a ₺5 coin the Turkish State Mint put into circulation on 29 October 2023 to mark the centenary and restyled, without the anniversary emblem, on 8 June 2024.