Erdogan Demands Bank Action as Turkey's Economic Outlook Remains Grim

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the country's central bank to lower interest rates on Friday, as the economy continues to nosedive.

Buoyed by his AK Party's win in last weekend's local elections, the PM urged the country's central bank to intervene in a bid to halt the country's sliding growth.

"The central bank should hold an extraordinary meeting to cut [rates] ... just as they met previously to raise them," Erdogan told a press conference.

"Investors in Turkey will be eager once interest rates are lowered. More investments will be made," he said, adding that "we are doing quite well right now in economic terms".

His optimism wasn't shared by ratings agency Fitch, which cut its growth forecast for Turkey to 2.5%, down from 3.2% this year. The 2015 forecast was also slashed from 3.8% to 3.2%.

"The economy remains highly volatile," said a Fitch statement, citing Turkey's economic policy as less stable than that of other emerging nations.

"The AKP defied expectations in local elections on 30 March, capturing over 45% of the vote and bolstering Prime Minister Erdogan's hopes of standing as president," it said.

"Nonetheless, Fitch expects political noise to remain an enduring feature for Turkey ahead of the presidential elections in August," the agency added.

Turkey has suffered months of political turmoil as a corruption scandal spilled across social media and resulted in Erdogan imposing a controversial ban on Twitter and YouTube ahead last weekend's vote.

Secretly recorded conversations were leaked on the sites, resulting in corruption investigations into Erdogan and a number of his allies in the police and civil service.

Erdogan attributed the leaks to the Gulen movement, whose members follow the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen and reach across NGOs, media and business. In the wake of his party's election victory on Sunday, the prime minsiter vowed to pursue "traitors" and make them "pay the price".

While the Turkish lira rose to its highest level this year following the election results, it has since dropped to 2.1 per dollar on Friday as investors wait to see what the PM's next move will be.