The governor of the Central Bank of Turkey resigns after less than a year in office | Financial markets

2024-02-03 15:28:43

The governor of the Central Bank of Turkey, Hafize Gaye Erkan, the first woman to hold the position in the entire history of the country, has announced her resignation after less than a year at the head of the institution after denouncing a media “campaign” against her. following an alleged family corruption scandal.

“A major reputation assassination campaign has recently been organized against me. To prevent my family and my innocent son, who is not even a year and a half old, from being even more affected by this process, I have asked our President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) to forgive my duty, which I have been fulfilling with honor since the first day,” the former governor has made known on her social network account X.

Erkan thus referred to an article published by the newspaper ‘Soczu’, critical of Erdogan, which published an accusation made by a Central Bank employee dismissed, in his opinion unfairly, by order of his father, Erol, also accused of being personally involved in the activities of the Central Bank, from which he took advantage of resources such as offices, bodyguards or even an official vehicle.

Erkan has also been criticized for going to work with her nursing baby and it has been published that the governor worked at the First Republic Bank, a US institution that went bankrupt.

The Minister of Economy, Mehmet Simsek, has pointed out that this is a “totally personal decision” and has thanked him for the services provided. “Our economic program continues decisively and without interruption under the leadership of our president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” the minister indicated.

The governor came to office in June with the mission of trying to regain the confidence of investors given the high inflation prevailing in the country, as well as the collapse of the national currency, the lira. Among her first decisions was the increase in interest rates from 8.5% to 45%. Turkish Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek has assured that Erkan’s resignation will not affect the country’s monetary policy.

His replacement in office and sixth governor since 2018 will be Fatih Karahan, the resigned number two and former economist at the New York Federal Reserve.

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