The announcement came by a presidential decree published Saturday, July 6 in the official journal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired Turkey's Central Bank Governor Murat Cetinkaya, who was appointed to the post in April 2016.
The decree states that Murat Cetinkaya is replaced by Murat Uysal, who until now was deputy governor. However, he does not specify the reasons for this eviction.
Recent rumors in economic and political circles have pointed to dissension between Mr Cetinkaya and the government over the need for lower interest rates. The Turkish president has repeatedly regretted the level he said too high rates and called for their decline to stimulate the economy. Erdogan even recently said high rates were "the mother and father of all ills".
In a statement released on Saturday, the Central Bank announced that it would continue to operate independently and that the new governor would focus on its main objective, namely maintaining the stability of
price.
The base rate is currently set at 24% by the Central Bank.
The Turkish economy is in a difficult time and inflation reached 15.72% year on year in June, after 18.71% in May.
The new number of the Central Bank will hold a press conference in the coming days, said the monetary institution.
With AFP