Reuters UMIT BEKTAS
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan removed the head of the country’s central bank, Naji Iqbal, from his post.
On Saturday night, Erdogan’s office issued a presidential decree stipulating the dismissal of Iqbal and the appointment of Shihab Qafcioglu as the new head of the Central Bank.
This measure comes after the Turkish Central Bank decided, on Thursday, to raise the interest rate by 200 basis points from 17% to 19%.
After this surprise move, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Turkish lira decreased by a rate of between 1.5% and 2% to about 7.35, while market expectations were to raise interest by only 100 basis points.
He assumed the position of President of the Turkish Central Bank in November 2020 after Erdogan fired his predecessor, Murat Uysal, against the backdrop of the sharp decline of the national lira.
This is the third time since 2019 that Erdogan has sacked the head of the Central Bank.
Source: Agencies
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