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Turkey replaces central bank head as lira sees record lows, inflation rises

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the head of the country's central bank following a period of high inflation and record lows for the lira

Turkey, Turkish, lira

Turkish lira banknotes are pictured at a currency exchange office in Istanbul, Turkey

AP Ankara

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday dismissed the head of the country's central bank following a period of high inflation and record lows for the lira.

Former Finance Minister Naci Agbal was brought in to replace Murat Uysal, according to a presidential decree announced in the Official Gazette.

The decision came after the lira lost nearly a third of its value since the start of the year -- hitting a record low of 8.58 against the US dollar on Friday -- and annual inflation stood at 11.89%.

Uysal was appointed chairman of the central bank in July 2019 after his predecessor failed to cut interest rates to boost the economy.

 

Erdogan has called for rate cuts, refuting established economic theory that high rates can rein in inflation. Last weekend he described interest and exchange rates and inflation as the devil's triangle.

Erdogan and the country's finance minister, his son-in-law Berat Albayrak, have often blamed Turkey's economic woes on foreign powers.

Agbal was appointed from his previous post as head of the presidential strategy and budget directorate. He served as finance minister between 2015 and 2018.

His new role comes as Turkey fears worsening relations with the US should Democratic nominee Joe Biden win the presidential race.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Nov 07 2020 | 1:08 PM IST

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