Erdogan sees swift steps from new finance minister but says his own monetary views unchanged

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his newly appointed Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek will take unspecified steps swiftly with the central bank, but that it was a mistake to suggest Erdogan had changed his own views on interest rates.

Since winning re-election last month, Erdogan, a self-proclaimed "enemy" of interest rates, has appointed Simsek as well as a new central bank governor, Hafize Gaye Erkan, in moves seen as heralding a switch to tighter interest rate policy.

"Some of our friends should not be mistaken, such as [asking] 'Is our president going for a serious change in interest rate policies?'" Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Azerbaijan on Tuesday, according to a readout of his comments published by Turkish media on Wednesday.

"But upon the thinking of our treasury and finance minister, we have accepted that he will take steps...