Turkey's revolving door of central bank chiefs whipsaws markets

Investors doubt Erdogan's will to fight inflation while public questions data reliability

A vendor offering Turkish flags for sale walks past a currency exchange shop in an Istanbul market last month. © AP

SINAN TAVSAN and MOMOKO KIDERA, Nikkei staff writers

April 22, 2021 16:28 JST

ISTANBUL -- Financial markets in Turkey and beyond have been whipsawed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's firing of three central bank governors and four statistical institute chiefs since 2019.

The revolving door has led investors to doubt the commitment of economic leaders to fight soaring inflation -- an issue that has dogged the nation's economy for decades -- and the public to question the reliability of the country's economic data.