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Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appointed Fatma Ozkul, a professor who teaches about crypto assets and blockchain technology, to the central bank’s rate-setting committee.

Ozkul, a lecturer at Istanbul’s Marmara University, is the newest member of Turkey’s central bank Monetary Policy Committee, according to a presidential decree published early Saturday. The professor’s main research areas are accounting, finance and auditing, and she has held courses in subjects including blockchain technology and crypto assets, according to a profile published on university’s web page. 

Erdogan assembled a new economy management team after he won the general election in May, and appointed ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Hafize Gaye Erkan as governor of the central bank in June. The bank has raised policy rates 3.400 basis points to 42.5%. Monetary tightening gathered pace after Erdogan replaced three MPC members in July.

Ozkul’s appointment is unlikely to alter the course of current monetary policy path. The focus of her recent work has been blockchain, crypto assets and their implications on finance. She published a book about crypto asset accounting in 2022, according to her profile.

Turkey’s central bank launched a digital Turkish lira collaboration platform in 2021, and conducted tests of digital lira transactions in late 2022. The government is also expected to submit a draft law to regulate crypto assets next year. 

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