Turkish President Erdo?an meets Central Bank governor to keep up 'trust' in economy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an on March 11 met with the government's economic pointman and the central bank governor, agreeing on the need to maintain trust in the economy at talks aimed at calming markets after a plunge in the value of the lira.
      
Erdo?an hosted Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and central bank chief Erdem Ba?ç? at his presidential palace in Ankara, in an apparent attempt to heal a damaging rift over his controversial comments on monetary policy.
      
The president has lambasted the central bank for failing to aggressively cut interest rates to stimulate growth and his increasingly personal attacks on the respected Ba?ç? have caused the lira to fall to historic lows in value against the dollar.
      
In a two-hour meeting with the president, Ba?ç? gave the president a presentation on the state of the economy based on 130 slides which were also published on the central bank website (tcmb.gov.tr), Anadolu News Agency reported.
      
Babacan was also present at the meeting and stayed on for another half hour of talks with the president after Ba?ç? left, Anadolu News Agency added.
      
Neither men made any comment after the closed-door meeting ended.
      
But the presidency issued a statement on its website saying Erdo?an had noted the "strong foundations" of the Turkish economy and the importance of the "robust and balanced" targets set out by the president in the drive to make Turkey a top 10 global economy by 2023.
      
But in an apparent nod to the need for a monetary policy that will not undermine the economy, the statement added Erdo?an had also emphasised the need "to maintain strictly the existing trust and stability" in the Turkish economy.