People in Turkey are growing more concerned over the health of their nation's currency. Since the start of the year, the Turkish lira has lost more than 40-percent of its value. It hit record lows on Monday before recovering slightly. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country is facing an "economic war". CGTN's Michal Bardavid has more details.  

On Monday Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he expected attacks on Turkey's economy to continue but also emphasized that he predicts the lira would soon return to what he called "rational levels". Most analysts say the Turkish lira's decline has many causes but has been exacerbated by a political dispute pitting Turkey against the United States. Angered by Turkey's refusal to release an American pastor charged with terror links, the US first imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers - then announced last week it was doubling tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports.

Turkish officials have repeatedly stated they will not bow down to US threats and announced several measures the government would be taking. The Turkish Central Bank pledged to provide liquidity and cut reserve requirements for Turkish banks, while Turkey's Finance Minister Berat Albayrak also announced the government would be implementing an economic action plan.

MICHAL BARDAVID ANKARA, TURKEY "Many Turkish citizens are concerned due to the lira's fall as the loss of value against the US dollar has a direct impact on people's everyday lives. Business people who import goods in foreign currencies are especially affected."

UYGAR TURKISH CITIZEN "We bought our products in US dollars, but we didn't put tags in dollars because, well, we live in Turkey, we sell in Turkish liras, that's why we are affected very much, our prices become outdated."

ADNAN TURKISH CITIZEN "In line with the increase of US dollar prices, gold and diamond prices have hiked as well. This has affected us negatively, customers are buying less last year. A kilogram of gold was about 150-160 thousand liras, now a kilogram is 250 thousand liras. When you add increased rent prices and expenses this is naturally affecting us negatively."

SEZEN TURKISH CITIZEN "I believe it will affect us very badly, our lifestyle. I believe prices will go up, this includes our children's clothes, our rent, almost all products we buy. This is very sad for us."

The weakening of the Turkish lira could also affect European markets as Turkey owes billions of dollars to European lenders, mainly to Spanish and French banks. On Monday German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that Germany would like to see an "economically prosperous Turkey" and that it would be in Germany's interest as well.

Meanwhile, an announcement supportive of Turkey's calls to trade in national currencies came from the Kremlin as the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Ankara for a visit. The Kremlin stated it would back the use of national currencies for bilateral trade over the US dollar for all countries - but is not yet ready to implement such a plan. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Mugla Turkey.