Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has named former economy chief and internationally respected ex-banker Mehmet Simsek as treasury and finance minister as he unveiled his new cabinet.

Erdogan, who was sworn into his third presidential term on Saturday, changed almost all of his cabinet members except for the ministers for health and culture.

Simsek was highly regarded by investors when he served as finance minister between 2009 and 2015 and deputy prime minister in charge of the economy until 2018, before stepping down in advance of a series of lira crashes that year.

His appointment could mark a departure from years of unorthodox economic policies under Erdogan, which have included maintaining low interest rates despite soaring inflation and heavy state control of markets.

A former Merrill Lynch economist, Simsek is known to oppose Erdogan’s unconventional policies.

Turkey is grappling with a cost-of-living crisis and inflation soared to 85 percent in October before easing to 44 percent in May. The currency has lost more than 10 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of the year.

Hakan Fidan, Erdogan’s intelligence chief and a former soldier, was named as the new foreign minister replacing Mevlut Cavusoglu, who has served in the role since 2014.

One of Erdogan’s closest aides, Fidan has headed the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) since 2010 and before that was an adviser to Erdogan in the prime minister’s office.

Erdogan also announced that Cevdet Yilmaz will be his vice president.

Source: Aljazeera