Turkish central bank governor Naci Ağbal fired
Turkish central bank governor Naci Ağbal has been fired after less than five months in office.
No
official reason for the decision has been given for the decision, which was
made by a presidential decree published in the early hours of Saturday.
The
dismissal comes after the central bank raised interest rates by 200 basis
points to 19 percent on Thursday, a sharper increase than was widely expected.
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a vocal opponent of higher interest rates.
Ağbal
has been replaced by Şahap Kavcıoğlu a professor of banking at Marmara
University in Istanbul.
Kavcıoğlu
has repeatedly criticised using interest rates to stabilise the Turkish economy
as a columnist at the pro-government Yeni Şafak newspaper.
Foreign investors have been calling for the action to rein in double-digit inflation.
