Erdogan sacks Turkey central bank governor amid rate tensions

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sacked the governor of Turkey's central bank and replaced him with his deputy, a presidential decree said Saturday, after months of tension with the government over high interest rates.

Murat Cetinkaya, who was appointed to the role in April 2016, has been replaced by Murat Uysal, according to the decree published in the official gazette, which gave no official reason for the change.

There had been recent speculation that Cetinkaya could be replaced amid disagreements with the government on cutting interest rates.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly railed against high interest rates and called for them to be lowered in a bid to stimulate growth.

Erdogan once called high rates the "mother and father of all evil".

Turkey's main interest rate is 24 percent after the bank under Cetinkaya made an aggressive rate hike of 625 basis points last September following a currency crisis in August.

Last month, Erdogan said high interest rates harmed Turkey.

"I agree on the independence of the central bank but let me put it very clearly that I am against interest (rate) policies and above all, high interest rates," he said.

The weakening economy contributed to Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) losing Ankara and Istanbul in recent local elections, in what was a stinging rebuke to the ruling party after more than a decade and a half in power.

Economic columnist Ugur Gurses said that the central bank chief was sacked with the goal of lowering rates.

"As I predicted, Ankara is swiftly taking an adventurist path after losing the election," he wrote on Twitter.

"The goal of removing the central bank governor is clear: print money and lower the interest (rate) but the governor cannot be sacked except for the reasons specified in its law. A presidential decree is not above law."