ANKARA: Turkey's central bank said its chief Erdem Basci, locked in a bitter struggle with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over monetary policy, underwent a medical check-up Thursday, following the latest personal attack from the Turkish leader.
Turkish media have over the last 24 hours speculated that Basci and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan -- the figures most trusted by the markets in the Turkish elite -- were set to resign due to the disputes with Erdogan on economic policy.
The speculation reached a new intensity when it was reported that Basci had not shown up for an important meeting at the central bank on Thursday.
But Turkish television quoted sources at the office of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that the rumours were "a lie".
However, in a curious development, the central bank said that Basci had spent Thursday undergoing a health check.
"Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci today underwent a health check. No important health problems were found. He will be back in the office in the afternoon tomorrow (Friday)," a spokesperson was quoted as saying by the state Anatolia news agency.
Basci has for months been at odds with Erdogan over monetary policy, with the Turkish strongman calling for aggressive rate cuts but the central banker turning a very defiant deaf ear.
The central bank has pruned rates in the last months -- the latest cut coming on Tuesday -- but by far less than Erdogan wants to stimulate flagging growth ahead of June legislative elections.
Erdogan has shown no fear in attacking Basci and the central bank in his speeches, but his remarks on Wednesday took the criticism to a new level by implying Basci was acting on behalf of an outside force.
"If you take a tough line with us under the pretext of being independent, then I start to question whether you take orders from someone else," Erdogan said.
The Turkish president did not specify but his comments appeared a chilling warning as the government cracks down nationwide on allies of the influential US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan's arch foe.
"They say the chief of the central bank is a good person, a very nice person but I don't care if he is good or not," added the pugnacious Erdogan.
Turkey's central bank is independent of the government following law changes adopted in 2001 in the wake of a financial crisis that gave it full control over monetary policy.
Economic policy is under particular scrutiny in Turkey this year as it holds the rotating presidency of the G20 group, with Babacan and Basci its top representatives at events.
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