Turkey's 'genius' Central Banker Faces High Expectations

"Brilliant Turk" or "the genius": Turkish media are gushing over new central bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, who soared through the ranks of US financial firms but now faces the monumental task of curbing inflation and stabilising the falling lira

Ankara, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Jun, 2023 ):"Brilliant Turk" or "the genius": Turkish media are gushing over new central bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, who soared through the ranks of US financial firms but now faces the monumental task of curbing inflation and stabilising the falling lira.

The first woman to lead Turkey's central bank, who is in her forties, has a stellar resume that includes major roles with the likes of Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs and diplomas from Princeton and Harvard.

She climbed to the top of the corporate ladder at California-based First Republic Bank, where she became co-chief executive and was expected to take over from founder Jim Herbert until she unexpectedly resigned in December 2021.

Crain's New York Business magazine named her on its list of "40 under 40" rising business stars in 2018.

"Gaye is a financial whiz with a deep sense of social responsibility, reflecting her immigrant experience and lessons learned from the banking industry's role in the 2008 financial crisis," Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for New York City, was quoted as saying in Crain's.

Erkan served on the board of directors at the nonprofit.

After quitting First Republic, she became CEO of US real estate finance and investment giant Greystone last year, but she quit just six months later.

Erkan has said that her dream was to return to Turkey one day to "serve my country", according to local media.

She has taken on a tough job, with markets eager to see whether she will have the power to reject President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unorthodox monetary policies.

Her predecessors followed Erdogan's calls for the central bank to lower its interest rates in order to combat high inflation -- the mirror opposite of what policymakers in other nations have done.