Turkey sacks central bank governor: Presidential decree

Murat Cetinkaya, who was appointed to lead Turkey's central bank in April 2016, had been replaced by Murat Uysal (Photo: AFP)


Turkey government has sacked the governor of its central bank and replaced him with his deputy, according to a presidential order that was published in the official gazette on Saturday.

According to order, Murat Cetinkaya was appointed to the role in April 2016 had been replaced by Murat Uysal but gave no official reason for the change.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.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly railed against high-interest rates and called for them to be lowered in a bid to stimulate growth.

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

Turkish inflation fell to 15.72 per cent in June from 18.71 per cent in May, according to official statistics.