Lira rallies as Turkey pledges spending cuts to avoid IMF bailout

Finance minister out to convince investors but threat of fresh US sanctions looms

Turkey's finance minister sparked a recovery in the lira after he addressed thousands of international investors, pledging to protect beleaguered local banks and cut public spending to prevent the country defaulting on its loans.

Berat Albayrak, who has faced criticism for failing to tackle the country's growing financial crisis, spoke to around 6,000 investors on a conference call to rebuff concerns that a funding squeeze on Turkey's banks and a damaging trade war with the US would force him to seek a rescue bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Related: Turkey buys time before day of IMF reckoning