Investors’ favorite Mehmet Simcek set to return as Turkey’s finance minister

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to appoint Mehmet Simcek as finance and treasury minister, according to a person familiar with the talks, a move that would bring an economist back into the government, widely criticized by foreign investors. is respected.

Simsek, a former senior economist at Merrill Lynch, will rejoin Turkey’s government at a time when the country’s $900 billion economy is under severe pressure and foreign investors have fled following years of unorthodox policies adopted by Erdogan’s government. .

If he is appointed, it would be a sign that Erdogan may be ready to reverse his unorthodox policies, which he blames for triggering the acute cost of lives crisis as the lira plummets against the dollar. .

Simsek was Türkiye’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. He served as the Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2015, when he assumed the role of Deputy Prime Minister. He stepped down in 2018 when Erdogan appointed his son-in-law as finance minister, but has now found common ground with the president on key policy matters, according to a person familiar with the talks.

Erdoğan, who was re-elected for a new five-year term as president on Sunday, is expected to unveil his new cabinet on Saturday. The Turkish government did not immediately comment on the matter. The news of Simsek’s appointment was first reported by Bloomberg.