Murat Çetinkaya (born 1976) is an economist, who was Governor of the

Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, CBRT ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası, TCMB, literally "The Turkish Republic Central Bank") is the central bank of Turkey. Its responsibilities include conducting monetary and exchange rate pol ...

from April 2016 to July 2019. He is the first central-bank governor to be fired in Turkey since the 1981 military coup.

Early life

He was born in

Çorlu Çorlu () is a northwestern Turkish city in inland Eastern Thrace that falls under the administration of the Province of Tekirdağ. It is a rapidly growing industrial centre built on flatland located on the motorway Otoyol 3 and off the highwa ...

Tekirdağ Province Tekirdağ Province ( tr, Tekirdağ ili , ) is a province of Turkey. It is located in the East Thrace region of the country, also known as European Turkey, one of only three provinces entirely within continental Europe. Tekirdağ Province is border ...

in 1976. He is of mixed Albanian and Turkish origin. After finishing high school in

Tekirdağ Tekirdağ (; see also its other names) is a city in Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. In 2019 the city's population was 204,001. Tekirdağ town is a commercial centre with a harbour ...

, Murat Çetinkaya was educated in International Relations at

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, Bosphorus strait. It has six facult ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Career

Çetinkaya began his banking career at

Albaraka Türk Albaraka Türk was founded in 1984 in Istanbul Turkey and began actively serving in 1985 and commenced its commercial activities in 1985 as Albaraka Türk Özel Finans Kurumu. It is now known as the first Participation Bank in Turkey Tu ...

, where he served in several positions in the departments of foreign transactions, treasury and corresponding banks. In 2003, he transferred to state-owned

Halkbank Halkbank is a Turkish bank, first incorporated in 1933 as a state-owned bank. After growing throughout much of the twentieth century, it began absorbing smaller-sized state banks around the turn of the millennium. Halkbank is now a publicly trad ...

. He worked in

international banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and

structured finance Structured finance is a sector of finance - specifically financial law - that manages leverage and risk. Strategies may involve legal and corporate restructuring, off balance sheet accounting, or the use of financial instruments. Securitization ...

departments, and was ultimately promoted to vice general manager of the bank. From 2006 on, he served as board member of the Halk Investment and Security Bank, a subsidiary of the Halkbank. By January 2008, he joined Kuwait Türk Bank, where he became vice general manager responsible for treasury, international finance and investment banking. Çetinkaya was appointed vice governor of the Central Bank of Turkey on 29 June 2012. On 19 April 2016 he succeeded Erdem Başçı as governor of the Central Bank, who retired after completing his five-year official term.

References

1976 births People from Çorlu Boğaziçi University alumni Turkish civil servants Governors of the Central Bank of Turkey Living people {{Turkey-economist-stub