• Elvan leaves post after a little more than 12 months in office
• Minister opposed Erdogan’s demands for lower borrowing costs

(Bloomberg) — 

Lutfi Elvan will exit after a little more than 12 months on the job and will be replaced with Nureddin Nebati, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette. Nebati, 57, has been a deputy finance minister since 2018 and is perceived to be close to former economy czar Berat Albayrak, a son-in-law of Erdogan.

Turkey’s lira, already trading near record lows, dipped after the announcement on growing concern over Erdogan’s economic policy and the removal of officials who disagree with his priorities. Recent central bank rate cuts the president had encouraged — at a time when inflation is already running close to 20% — have punished Turkish assets as investors cast doubt on the unconventional approach to running the economy.

Elvan, 59, had opposed those rate reductions, people familiar with the matter said. Speaking two days before the central bank on Nov. 18 lowered its benchmark for a third straight month, Elvan called on “each institution to do its part within the scope of its own mandate” to tame price increases.

A day later, Erdogan lashed out in parliament at “friends who are still defending” high borrowing costs. “I cannot be on the same path with those” officials, he said. A photo of Elvan not joining the applause for the president as he spoke spread on social media.

Erdogan regularly asserts his unorthodox mantra that high borrowing costs cause inflation rather than curb it.

Before becoming finance minister in November 2020, Elvan chaired a parliamentary committee overseeing legislation on the economy and central government budgets. He holds a graduate degree in economics from the