Any illusions that Turkey’s new economy minister, Berat Albayrak, might inject reason into policy were shattered on July 24 when the country’s Central Bank decided to keep interest rates steady, plunging the country’s currency to further lows.
“The president has sacrificed Albayrak. No one will trust Turkey from here on,” tweeted veteran financial analyst Atilla Yesilada. The Turkish lira lost 3% against the dollar following the announcement. “It is clear that the [Central Bank] was instructed by Erdogan and his shadowy team of advisers not to touch the rates,” Yesilada’s PA Intelligence consultancy observed in a research note.
