Erdogan Dismisses Central Bank Employees, Sending Lira to Record Low

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked three members of the central bank's monetary policy committee on Thursday, to replace them with two others, sending the lira down to a new record low.

Deputy governors Semih Tumen and Ugur Namik Kucuk, along with another MPC member, Abdullah Yavas were dismissed and replaced with Taha Cakmak as a deputy central bank governor and Yusuf Tuna as an MPC member.

After the president's decision, the lira fell to a record low of 9.1900 against the dollar, with a 1% loss only today, and 19% this year, driven by monetary policy concerns.

Last month, the central bank cut its key interest rate to 18% from 19%, despite annual inflation of nearly 20%, showing the usual political interference in the fiscal policies.

Erdogan has fired three central bank governors in the past two and a half years over political disagreements, battering the lira to a record low.

Headline inflation hit a two-and-a-half-year high of 19.58% in September, while the core measure recorded 16.98%. Erdoğan appointed Kavcioglu in March after ousting Naci Agbal, who raised interest rates to 19%.