ANKARA (Middle East Eye) – The Turkish lira slumped to another record low on Thursday after Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired three Central Bank monetary policy committee (MPC) members, according to local reports.
Turkey’s Official Gazette said the three governors fired by Erdogan late on Wednesday were Semih Tumen and Ugur Namik Kucuk, along with another MPC member, Abdullah Yavas.
Erdogan has since replaced two out of the three governors. They include Taha Cakmak as a deputy central bank governor and Yusuf Tuna as an MPC member.
The decision to fire the three MPC members came after a picture was posted showing Erdogan meeting central bank governor Sahap Kavcioglu on Wednesday evening.
A source told Reuters that both Yavas and Kucuk had opposed some decisions taken by the MPC. Kucuk had also been against reserve sales to support the lira in previous years.
Analysts have also said that Erdogan’s latest decision is further evidence of his political interference in Turkey’s banking system and opposition to interest rates.
The lira weakened to a record low of 9.19 against the dollar after the announcement, a loss of 1 percent on the day.
It has weakened about 19 percent so far this year, driven by concerns about monetary policy.
Last week, three sources told Reuters that Erdogan was losing confidence in Kavcioglu, who was hired after his predecessor was fired seven months prior by the Turkish president.