Erdogan sacks Turkey central bank governor amid rate tensions

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sacked the governor of Turkeys central bank and replaced him with his deputy, a presidential decree said on 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Murat Cetinkaya, who was appointed to the role in April 2016, has been replaced by Murat Uysal, according to the decree published in the official gazette, which gave no official reason for the change.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 per cent 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.”

The new governor Uysal said he would continue to use monetary policy tools “independently” while remaining focused on ensuring price stability as his “main aim”, according to a central bank statement.

Uysal, who had served as deputy governor since June 2016, will hold a press conference in the coming days, the bank said.

The change of central bank chief came after markets closed on Friday.

Turkish inflation fell to 15.72 percent in June from 18.71 percent in May, official statistics showed on Wednesday, the lowest rate in nearly a year.

The opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) spoke out against the removal of Cetinkaya, with spokesman Faik Oztrak accusing the president of interfering in the independence of the central bank.

“Those who do this have lost the right to say trust in our economy. The Turkish central bank is a hostage in the hands of the Palace. Full stop,” he wrote on Twitter.