Claim: Erdoğan warned Mehmet Şimşek! 'When no results were achieved...'

As of August 2023, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, which had been increasing the policy rate, also raised it during its MPC meeting last week, setting the policy rate at 35 percent.

While the 500 basis point rate hike was in line with market expectations, the board announced that it had decided to continue the monetary tightening process to combat inflation and bring the deterioration in pricing behavior under control.

The upward risks that the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and the upward trend in oil prices would create on inflation were also not ignored.

ERDOĞAN WARNED ŞİMŞEK WHEN RATE HIKES DID NOT YIELD RESULTS

Following these developments, economist Barış Soydan put forward a striking claim. Soydan alleged that AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek because no results were achieved from the consecutive interest rate hikes.

Sharing on his X account, Soydan used the following expressions;

"It is a widely discussed claim that President Erdoğan conveyed a warning to Mehmet Şimşek 'because no concrete results were achieved after the consecutive interest rate hikes.' I heard this from two reliable sources."

DMM DENIED

After Soydan's claim, the Center for Combating Disinformation announced that the claim that "President Erdoğan conveyed a warning to Mehmet Şimşek because there was no concrete improvement in the economy" does not reflect the truth.

The following statements were included in the statement made by the DMM:

"The claim that 'President Erdoğan conveyed a warning to Mehmet Şimşek because there was no concrete improvement in the economy' is not true. Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and all relevant institutions continue their work uninterruptedly to ensure that the Turkish economy reaches its goals. Do not give credence to speculative news that is deliberately circulated to create distrust and anxiety in the markets."