Turkish lira plunges after Erdogan sacks central bank chief

Sacked governor Agbal had raised interest rates to rein in inflation; analysts fear the new chief may reverse the hikes despite comments to bank CEOs.

Turkey’s lira plunged 15 percent to near its all-time low after markets opened following President Tayyip Erdogan’s shock weekend decision to sack a hawkish central bank governor and install a like-minded critic of high interest rates. The appointment of Sahap Kavcioglu, a former banker and ruling party lawmaker, in the early hours on Saturday, marked the third time since mid-2019 that Erdogan has abruptly fired a central bank chief. Kavcioglu had sought to ease concerns about a sharp selloff in Turkish assets and a pivot from rate hikes to cuts in a 90-minute call on Sunday, in which he told bank CEOs he planned no immediate policy change, a source told the Reuters news agency.