Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned on Saturday the exploitation of interest rates “that makes the poor poorer and the rich richer.” "Those who challenge a country like Turkey for the sake of petty calculations will pay a price both in our region and in their own politics," the Turkish leader said in a speech in the Black Sea city of Rize. "We are never accepting this order which declared economic war to the entire world and which held countries to ransom through sanction threats," he added, referring to the US administration. Erdogan said high foreign exchange rates were the means used in plots against Turkey. "Interest rates should be kept to a minimum," he added. The nominally independent central bank has defied pressure over the last few weeks to hike interest rates in the face of high inflation and a collapsing currency. The lira tumbled 16 percent against the dollar on Friday. Erdogan said those who plotted against Turkey in a failed coup attempt in July 2016 were now trying to target the country through its economy, and pledged to fight back. He did not name any countries. "We know very well that the issue is not dollar, euro or gold. They are bullets, cannonballs and missiles of an economic war waged against our country," he said. He said his government had taken measures in response, and would continue to do so. “Those who can’t compete with us on the ground have brought online fictional currency plots that have nothing to with the realities of our country, production and real economy,” he stated. “The country is neither crumbling, nor being destroyed or bankrupt or in a crisis,” he said, and added that the way out of the “currency plot” was to boost production and “minimize interest rates”. US President Donald Trump said Friday he had doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum from Turkey, adding to pressure on its troubled economy amid a diplomatic row with Washington over the detention of a pastor. The two governments have been at odds over a wide range of topics - from diverging interests in Syria, to Turkey’s ambition to buy Russian defense systems, and the case of evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, who is on trial in Turkey on terrorism charges. The Turkish lira has lost about 40 percent this year alone, largely over worries about Erdogan’s influence over the economy, his repeated calls for lower interest rates in the face of high inflation and deteriorating ties with the United States.