Erdogan picks low-rates champion as finance minister as Turkish lira skids - reuters.com

ISTANBUL, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan appointed a strong supporter of his low interest rate drive as minister of treasury and finance on Thursday, replacing the last top official seen to favour orthodox policy in a government gripped by a currency meltdown.

The Central Bank has cut rates three times since September, slashing 400 basis points from its policy rate to bring it down to 15% last month, well below inflation of nearly 20%.

Elvan, along with then newly appointed central bank governor Agbal, were market-friendly technocrats who pivoted to more orthodox economic policies that began to reverse a years-long exodus of foreign investment that had picked up under Albayrak.

Elvan's departure is the latest in a rapid turnover at top economic positions including Erdogan's firing of three central bank governors in the last 2-1/2 years

The central bank, now run by Sahap Kavcioglu, began easing in September and cut rates in mid-November by another 100 points to 15% in a move many analysts called reckless given Turkey's deeply negative real yields