Naci Ağbal (, born 1 January 1968) is a Turkish politician and former civil servant from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) who served as the
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
electoral district
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
of
Bayburt
Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River. It is the seat of Bayburt Province and Bayburt District.June 2015 general election. He previously served as the Undersecretary to the Ministry of Finance between 2009 and 2015, resigning in order to contest the election.
Early life and career
Naci Ağbal was born on 1 January 1968 in
Bayburt
Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River. It is the seat of Bayburt Province and Bayburt District.Istanbul University
Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...
's Faculty of Political Sciences in 1989. He began his career in the same year by entering the Inspection Board, later becoming a finance inspector in 1993. In 2003, he became a department manager at the General Directorate of Revenues and became the General Director of Budget and Financial Control in 2007. In October 2008, he was elected by the
Cabinet of Turkey
The Cabinet of Turkey () or Presidential Cabinet () is the body that advises the President of Turkey on executive affairs. It is composed of the President, Vice President and the heads of the ministries. After the Council of Ministers was abol ...
Ministry of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
.
Political career
Ağbal was one of the 200 bureaucrats who resigned from their civil service positions in February 2015 in order to stand as candidates in the June 2015 general election. He was put forward as a Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate for his hometown of
Bayburt
Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River. It is the seat of Bayburt Province and Bayburt District.Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
After the AKP won a parliamentary majority in the November 2015 election, Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoğlu
Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...
appointed Ağbal as Finance Minister in his new government on 24 November 2015. Ağbal replaced
Mehmet Şimşek
Mehmet Şimşek (born 1 January 1967) is a Turkish politician and economist, who has been serving as the List of Finance Ministers of Turkey, Minister of Treasury and Finance since 4 June 2023. He was the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 24 ...
, who was appointed as a
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
The deputy prime minister of Turkey was official deputy of the prime minister of Turkey. Conventionally all of the junior partners in a coalition got one deputy, and they were ranked according to the size of their respective parties.
See also ...
having served as Finance Minister since 2009. In his first statement since being appointed as Minister, Ağbal claimed that the Turkish economy was entering a new 'reform' period and that the government would never stray from the principles of financial discipline. He stressed the need for creating a strong financial infrastructure in order to advance economic growth. Outgoing Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek praised his successor for his previous work as Undersecretary, with both committing their economic program to one of
fiscal conservatism
In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, ...
during their terms in government.
Governor of the Turkish Central Bank
On 7 November 2020, he was appointed the Governor of the Central Bank of Turkey, replacing Murat Uysal, who was unable to stop the fall of the
Turkish lira
The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...
, which had lost more than 40% against the
Dollar
Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...
since January 2020. He was sacked by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 20 March 2021.