Arkan – who is in his 40s – met Mehmet Simsek, Turkey’s new finance minister, on Monday as news of his candidacy for governor of Turkey’s Central Bank spread. If chosen, Arkan will be the first woman to head the Central Bank of Turkey.
The most striking information on the anger of Gay Arkan
Arkan holds a doctorate in financial engineering and applied mathematics from Princeton University, according to his LinkedIn page.
– Arkan spent about 8 years in the American “Versalt Republic Bank”, which recently collapsed in the American banking crisis, and was taken over by the bank “JP Morgan” to save it.
She moved within the First Republic Bank between several positions until she reached the position of Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer.
– Arkan abruptly resigned more than a year ago from the “First Republic”, after which she held the position of CEO of the “Grey Stone” bank specializing in real estate loans, based in New York, before the leave after a few months.
During his career, Arkan worked for almost a decade at Goldman Sachs and two years at Tiffany & Co., in addition to his participation on the boards of directors of American companies.
The choice of a successor to the current governor, Shihab Kauji Oglu, is an important question for the markets, after the unconventional policies implemented by Erdogan led to the flight of investors and the triggering of the worst inflation crisis. of the country for years.
Although inflation rose in the fall of 2022 to around 85%, the highest level in around a quarter of a century, Erdogan preferred to cut interest rates – which is unusual given the high inflation – which led to the pound collapsing to historic lows. .
Markets view the selection of new Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek as highly popular with investors as it could signal Turkey’s return to traditional policies, especially after Simsek’s early statements after taking office in which he confirmed that Turkey has no choice but to follow the logic in this matter: to fight against inflation.
Prior to the appointment of the current central bank governor in March 2021, Erdogan ousted his three predecessors for tightening monetary policy against his will. Turkey’s central bank did not raise interest rates at all under Davutoglu, but instead cut them to 8.5% from 19% at the start of his tenure.
Erdogan was publicly calling for a rate cut below the 10% level, and he promised to do so more than once, as he believed it would support production and investment.
Apart from Arkan, the names of the other candidates for the leadership of the Central Bank of Turkey have not been announced, and Oglu’s tenure in the position will not end until 2025.
Markets are currently waiting for the Turkish Central Bank meeting, scheduled for June 22, to see whether Erdogan will change his policy and allow the return of interest hikes in his new term, or continue his unconventional policy of holding interest rates. low interest despite high inflation.
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