Turkey's lira extended its relentless tumble on Monday, sliding more than 2 percent against the US dollar. The country's economy is taking a hit in the lead-up to presidential and parliamentary elections next month. CGTN's Michal Bardavid has more from Istanbul.

On Monday, the Turkish lira hit a record low against the dollar at one point reaching 4.59 against the U.S. dollar.

MICHAL BARDAVID ISTANBUL "The lira is one of the worst performing currencies so far in 2018 having already lost more than 16 percent. Though the lira has been weakening since the beginning of the year, many locals say its current performance has them worried."

Analysts believe there are several reasons for the drop, most notably political uncertainty.

OGUZ DEMIR ECONOMIST "Is Turkey's current government going to be able to continue in power? Will Erdogan win the presidency? What will the parliament's structure be? All these questions have created an ambiguous situation. This has caused foreigners in Turkey to leave and has increased a demand for foreign currencies which has increased the value of the dollar."

There are also economic factors at play. The country's annual inflation was nearly 11 percent in April. The economy is still struggling with is a trade deficit – up almost 30 percent compared to a year ago. Turkey's central bank has refused to listen to Erdogan's calls to lower interest rates, a demand the president has made repeatedly. Yet – he recently rattled the market by signaling the central bank will no longer be completely independent if he wins the June elections.  In an interview with Bloomberg, the president said:

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN PRESIDENT OF TURKEY "From the moment we move to a presidential governing system, our effectiveness there will be very different," he said. "We're going to do this so we can be held accountable for the responsibility we've taken."

Some economists point out that Erdogan's strategy would not help.

OGUZ DEMIR ECONOMIST "If you want to put the brakes on inflation, if you want to slow down the increase in the rates, you need to increase the interest rates. But Turkish President Erdogan is saying the opposite of this. He says they will lower the interest rates to lower inflation.

Over the years, Erdogan had been able to boast of a strong economy during his election campaigns, it will be critical to see whether his backers will reflect the current economic struggles when they go to the polls in a month. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Istanbul.