Anyone have any insight on the future of the lira versus the American dollar? It's been getting weaker recently (I seem to remember a rate of around 1.65 lira to the dollar a few months ago, and it's now at about 1.85).

I work in Turkey and obviously earn my salary in Turkish lira, but I have some loans back in the States to pay off- any idea if the exchange rate is going to improve? It would be nice to know whether I'd be wiser to be paying off as much as I can as fast as possible or make minimum payments and wait for things to improve...

Thanks for anything you can tell me

We expect Turksish lira to stay in a margin of 1.78 - 1.90.

we are not expecting any sharp decreas on existing position which is not good for Turkish economy but this is the reality.

Bank of New York Mellon has provided the following guidance for the USD/TRY.

The fourth quarter of 2011 will average 1.85.
The first quarter of 2012 will average 1.9.
The second quarter of 2012 will average 1.85
The third quarter of 2012 will average 1.8

So as you can see the trend is towards further weakening of the lira through next spring followed by strengthening heading late into 2012. Of course analysts predictions are always subject to change and may or may not be accurate.