The Turkish lira headed for its biggest gain in nine days as traders speculated the central bank will add to more than $500 million of purchases this week to shore up the currency after it fell to a record low. The lira rose 0.4 percent to 1.8543 per dollar at 10:19 a.m. in Istanbul, rebounding from an all-time low of 1.8610 at yesterday’s close. The central bank has sold a total $520 million in U.S. currency at daily auctions this week to shore up the lira, which has depreciated 12.5 percent this quarter. Turkey’s currency is posting the biggest declines in emerging markets this year, dropping 16.7 percent, as a widening current-account deficit and worsening European debt crisis hurt investor confidence in the nation’s financial stability. Turkish policy makers have lowered borrowing costs three times since December, by 1.25 percentage points, to 5.75 percent to help guard the economy from the global slowdown, and central bank Governor Erdem Basci reiterated a commitment yesterday to cut interest rates and reserve requirements to boost the economy.. “Things for the lira look difficult in the coming days if the central bank does not increase the foreign exchange sale volumes significantly,” Emir Baruh, a currency trader at Akbank TAS in Istanbul, said by telephone. Yields on the benchmark two-year lira-denominated bond fell 1 basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 8.38 percent, , the RBS Istanbul Benchmark Bond Index showed. To contact the reporter on this story: Selcuk Gokoluk in Istanbul at sgokoluk@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

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