President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday named a former senior U.S.-based bank executive as the country’s new central bank chief, in what analysts say marks another signal that an economic policy overhaul could be in the pipeline of the newly elected government.
Erdoğan named Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former co-CEO at First Republic Bank and managing director at Goldman Sachs, as governor, according to an announcement in the Official Gazette. The Princeton-educated Erkan, 41, is the Turkish central bank’s first woman governor.
The appointment comes as Erdoğan reshuffled his economic team after winning reelection on May 28 that extends his rule into the third decade. In one of the most prominent changes, he named Mehmet Şimşek, who is highly regarded by financial markets, as treasury and finance minister.
Analysts have suggested that the appointment of Şimşek could signal the government’s departure from economic policies centered around low-interest rates to fight stubborn inflation.
The government has urged monetary stimulus over the last several years, aiming to achieve price stability by slashing borrowing costs, boosting exports and flipping chronic current account deficits to surpluses.
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