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Could a Personnel Shakeup in Turkey Help Stabilize Its Economy?

Nov 9, 2020 | 22:23 GMT

A photo illustration shows banknotes of the Turkish lira currency on Aug. 27, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A photo illustration shows banknotes of the Turkish lira currency on Aug. 27, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

(Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

The emerging personnel shakeup among Turkey’s financial and economic leadership indicates growing political pressure on and within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to fix the country's flagging economy, and could initiate a shift in Turkey’s monetary policy that would be welcomed by markets and investors. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank governor Murat Uysal on Nov. 7 and replaced him with former finance minister Naci Agbal. Then on Nov. 8, finance minister and Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak resigned via Instagram, which Erdogan accepted on Nov. 9. Turkey’s currency rallied when markets opened on Nov. 9 to 8.1358 lira per $1, but the degree to which the lira will continue to rally and the economy recover will depend on the decisions Ankara’s economic team makes from here, and whether they make a real shift from the last two years of unorthodox intervention and easing. ...

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