Istanbul, Turkey– Turkey’s newly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday appointed former Wall Street executive Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank governor to deal with one of the world’s highest inflation rates.
Erkan, a former co-CEO First Republic Bank and managing director at Goldman Sachs, will be the first woman to head the central bank.
Erdogan, who is starting a third term in office, unveiled a new cabinet on Saturday appointing Mehmet Simsek, a former Merrill Lynch economist, as finance minister.
Simsek — who worked as finance minister and deputy prime minister in the past ruling AKP governments — is known to oppose Erdogan’s unconventional policies of lowering interest rates in order to fight inflation.
Erkan — whose appointment was published in the official gazette on Friday — has taken over the post from Sahap Kavcioglu.
Under Kavcioglu’s watch, the bank’s policy rate was decreased to 8.5 percent. It had been at 19 percent in 2021.
Turkey’s inflation rate dropped below 40 percent in May for the first time in 16 months.