[ad_1]
The Turkish presidency issued a decree early Saturday morning to remove Central Bank Governor Murat Uesal from his post and appoint Naji Aghbal, head of the Strategy and Budget Department in the presidency, as his successor.
In accordance with the decisions signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim anl was appointed head of the Strategy and Budget Department in the presidency, succeeding Naji Aghbal.
The former Minister of Economy, Nihad Zebekji, was appointed a member of the Economic Policy Committee of the Presidency of the Republic.
The decree does not mention the reasons for Awsal’s dismissal, 16 months after his appointment.
Uisal became central bank governor in July 2019 when Erdogan appointed him to succeed Murad Chetin Kaya.
Nagy Agbal held the financial portfolio from 2015 to 2018, when he was appointed head of the Presidential Budget and Strategy Directorate.
This decision comes after the fall in the value of the Turkish lira to a record level, which exceeded 8 and a half lira against a dollar.
The lira closed at 8.5445 against the dollar on Friday, after falling to an all-time high of 8.58. The lira is down 30 percent against the dollar this year.
Erdogan has always been against higher interest rates and said last Saturday that he was fighting “an evil triangle of interest rates, exchange rates and inflation.”
The Turkish currency has lost nearly 30 percent of its value against the dollar this year.
Markets are concerned about continued high inflation, which remains in double digits, and about falling foreign exchange reserves.
Hopes emerged last month that the central bank would raise key interest rates due to the weakening lira, but markets were disappointed after holding them at their rates.
The bank surprised investors in September when it raised the key interest rate for the first time in 2018, from 8.25 percent to 10.25 percent.
The bank’s monetary policy committee will issue its next rate decision on November 19.
