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The new government cabinet/Erdogan appoints a woman to head the Bank for the first time

The new government cabinet/Erdogan appoints a woman to head the Bank for the

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday nominated Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former executive finance official in the United States, as governor of the Central Bank.

It will face one of the highest inflation rates.

Erkan – former co-head of First Republic Bank, and managing director of Goldman Sachs in the US, will be the first woman to head the Central Bank of Turkey.

Erdogan, who has just started his third term as president, presented the new government cabinet on Saturday.

The Minister of Finance has been appointed, Mehmet Simsek. Simsek - who has worked as finance minister and deputy prime minister in previous governments - is known for opposing Erdogan's unconventional policies of lowering interest rates in order to fight inflation. Until now, that task has been held by Sahap Kavcioglu.

Under Kavcioglu's management, the interest rate has been reduced to 8.5 percent.

In 2021, the rate has reached 19 percent. The inflation rate fell below 40 percent in Turkey in May, for the first time in 16 months./rel

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