By NEWS DESK
New central bank governor Sahap Kavcioglu, who was appointed with a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette early Saturday, held a meeting with general managers of the banks under the Banks Association of Turkey (TBB) at 4 pm on Sunday.
“We had a very productive meeting with the bank general managers under the management of TBB. I thank our stakeholders for their support,” said Kavcioglu in a post at his Twitter account after the meetin.
Kavcioglu was seen with Huseyin Aydin, the Chairman of the Board of TBB attending the online meeting on his side, in the photo included in the post.
General economic evaluations were discussed and ideas were exchanged at the meeting, according to the information obtained from banking sources.
A beneficial meeting was held, the senior bankers said stating that they had the impression that the market would not be intervened. Monetary Policy Committee will gather according the to schedule as announced earlier and there will not be an early meeting, the sources said.
Focus on inflation
Prior to the meeting, Kavcioglu made his first official statement with a focus on the maintenance of the use of monetary policy tools of the central bank. The tools will be used effectively to achieve a permanent decline in inflation, he said on Sunday.
“The decline in inflation will foster macroeconomic stability through the fall in country risk premiums and a permanent improvement in financing costs, and will contribute to the development of conditions essential for sustainable growth that will enhance investment, production, exports and employment,” Kavcioglu said in his statement.
“In line with the transparency and predictability principles in policies, communication channels will be used effectively to address all stakeholders,” Kavcioglu said, stressing that meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee will go on as previously scheduled.
Fourth governor in 20 months
Professor Sahap Kavcioglu has no central bank background like is predecessor Naci Agbal but has spent most of his career at Halkbank until lately. He was writing weekly columns for Yeni Safak, a conservative and İslamist daily newspaper owned by Albayrak Medya Grubu. His latest column was on March 16 on the impact of economic reform package on the markets. The replacement of Naci Agbal with Kavcioglu, meaning the fourth governor in 20 months, is a fist in the history of the republic. Kavcioglu used to be an MP in the ruling AK Party from 2015 to 2018.
WHO IS SAHAP KAVCIOGLU?
Sahap Kavcioglu was born on May 23, 1967 in Bayburt. He graduated from Dokuz Eylul University, Department of Business Administration. After graduating from Istanbul University Accounting Institute as an Audit Specialist, he studied Business Administration at Hastings College, England. He completed his master’s and doctorate at Marmara University Banking and Insurance Institute.
He served as assistant inspector, inspector, branch manager and assistant general manager at Esbank. He started to work for HalkBank as regional coordinator took on assistant general manager roles responsible for retail banking, tradesmen-SME banking, credit policies, human resources and organization at the same bank, respectively.
Kavcioglu is married and has three children. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of Bayburt University Development Foundation, a Congress Member of Galatasaray Sports Club and a Founding Member of Dokuz Eylul University Alumni Association.
