Ankara, March 22 (TIWN) The Turkish lira plunged around 11 per cent on Monday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank governor and appointed a critic of high interest rates, a move sparking turbulence in markets.

The lira was fluctuating at 8.02 against the US dollar in the Monday morning trading, a sharp decline from Friday's closing level of 7.22, while the Turkish currency was also down 11 per cent against the euro, reports Xinhua news agency. 

On Saturday, Erdogan abruptly removed Naci Agbal from the post of the central bank governor with a presidential decree, nearly five months after his appointment to the post. 

The dismissal followed a 200 basis point interest rate hike imposed by the central bank on March 18 to fight double-digit inflation, with the benchmark policy rate rising to 19 per cent. 

Agbal, who served as the Finance Minister between 2015-2018, increased the benchmark interest rate by a total of 875 basis points in several hikes since he took the helm in November 2020, trying to restore monetary discipline in the emerging market.