Ankara : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday appointed a former U.S.-based bank executive to head Turkey’s central bank, in another sign that his administration might pursue more conventional economic policies.
Erdogan named Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former co-chief executive officer of the First Republic Bank, as governor, according to an announcement in the Official Gazette.
The Princeton-educated Erkan, 41, becomes the Turkish central bank’s first woman governor.
Erdogan won a third presidential term in elections last month as the country grapples with a cost-of-living crisis fueled by inflation that peaked at a staggering 85% in October.
On Saturday, Erdogan reappointed Mehmet Simsek, a respected former banker, finance minister and deputy prime minister, to the post of finance and treasury ministry. Simsek returned to the Cabinet after a five-year break from politics.
