ISTANBUL, Dec 2 (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan appointed Nureddin Nebati as Turkey’s minister of Treasury and Finance early on Thursday, accepting the resignation of Lutfi Elvan, the last top official seen to adhere to orthodox policy in a government gripped by a currency meltdown.
The appointment, announced in Turkey’s Official Gazette, follows the lira crashing 27% in the last month alone. The lira hit a series of historic lows over the direction of economic policy.
Elvan, a former deputy prime minister and longtime member of the ruling AK Party, held the finance post for just over a year after having replaced Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son in law.
The departure marks the latest in a rapid turnover at top economic positions including Erdogan’s abrupt firing of three central bank governors in the last 2-1/2 years, moves seen to have battered the credibility of policymaking.
Economic analysts said mismanagement and policy uncertainty have left inflation stuck in double digits, official foreign reserves low and the lira has shed two-thirds of its value in four years, by far the worst in emerging markets.
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Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; editing by Grant McCool
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