IslamicFinance.de

Turkey's cabinet has approved Murat Cetinkaya as the next central bank head, giving some initial relief to investors who had feared a battle between Erdogan, who equates high interest rates with treason, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's more orthodox economic team. Despite the initial relief in markets, the 40-year-old Cetinkaya remains something of an unknown quantity, lacking the experience of his predecessor, Erdem Basci, an engineer turned economics Ph.D. whose term as governor expires next week. The new Central bank governor must now convince investors that he can tame inflation while resisting political pressure to cut rates.

Turkish and international bankers convened at the IFN Turkey Forum 2014 in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss Turkey's growing Islamic banking sector. Professionals from Turkey, Malaysia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates discussed a number of key issues pertaining to various markets, trends and strategies. The Islamic banking sector is booming in Turkey, according to Central Bank of Turkey Deputy Governor Murat Cetinkaya, who said that Islamic banks have doubled their market share in the past 10 years. According to Cetinkaya, Turkey's regulatory framework, in conjunction with the recent macroeconomic stability, has paved the way for the growth of the sector.