Status: 07.11.2020 9:59 am

Turkish President Erdogan has again fired the head of his central bank. The reason for the replacement is likely to be the current currency crisis. Erdogan found a successor in his own party.

By Christian Buttkereit, ARD-Studio Istanbul

When the figure hit a good ten lira to one euro, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulled the string and put the head of the central bank, Murat Uysal, in front of the door. The president’s decision was published today in the Official Gazette. The two had long held different views on interest rate policy. Uysal is the second central bank director to be fired by Erdogan in a few months.

Erdogan appointed former finance minister Naci Agbal as his successor by decree. The 52-year-old belongs to Erdogan’s AKP party and is considered a seasoned financial politician.

The lira is losing ground against other currencies

Erdogan is always demanding that the key interest rate be lowered, thus making cheap loans available to consumers and businesses. Experts see exactly this as a cause of high inflation in Turkey. To stabilize the lira, the central bank recently intervened in the market with foreign exchange sales of more than $ 100 billion. Economists warn that this has caused central bank reserves to melt.

The Turkish lira has lost 30 percent of its value against the US dollar since the beginning of the year. After the 2018 presidential elections, Erdogan authorized himself by decree to appoint the president and vice president of the Central Bank only.



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