Turkey removes one of four deputy central bank governors

Turkey removed one of four central bank deputy governors on Tuesday, two months after President Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank governor.

Oguzhan Ozbas was removed from his post, and Semih Tumen was appointed to replace him, according to an overnight decree published in the official gazette.

Tumen currently serves as an adviser to Erdogan and is the head of the economics department at Ankara’s TED University. He worked at various positions at the Central Bank of Turkey from 2002 to 2018.

In March, Erdogan sacked central bank chief Naci Agbal, two days after a sharp interest rate hike to head off inflation, replacing him with a former ruling party lawmaker and critic of tight monetary policy. The move sparked a plunge in the Turkish lira.

Later that month, another deputy governor was replaced.

The lira traded at 8.39 to the dollar at 0206 GMT. [Reuters]