ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira extended losses against the dollar on Wednesday, weakening 1.5% in line with dollar gains elsewhere while investors weighed up data showing inflation rose above 15% in February.

The lira weakened as far as 7.4540 against the US currency from a close of 7.3425 on Tuesday and stood at 7.4320 at 1400 GMT. After strong gains until mid-February, the lira has retreated back to end-2020 levels.