President Tayyip Erdogan abruptly sacked Turkey’s central bank chief Naci Agbal on March 20, two days after Agbal increased the central bank’s main interest rate by 200 basis points to 19%.
Erdogan chose banking professor and columnist Sahap Kavcioglu as the new governor. Like Erdogan, he is a critic of high interest rates. Kavcioglu was due to hold a call with bank CEOs on March 21, Reuters reported citing two sources. In his first comments, he said he would continue to set policy to achieve a permanent fall in double-digit inflation.
Turkey’s lira tumbled by a double-digit percentage against the U.S. dollar in early Asia trade on March 22.Turkey's Central Bank Governor Naci Agbal poses during an interview with Reuters in his office in Istanbul, Turkey, February 4, 2021. Picture taken February 4, 2021.
dasha_reuters There’s the 16.1% gap up in USDTRY tonight then. Fun times in Turkey as always.