Life and Education

Ahmet Mahfi Eğilmez was born in 1950 in Istanbul. His parents are Rauf Âli Eğilmez and Saniye Eğilmez. He completed his primary and secondary schooling in Ankara, graduating from Ankara Atatürk High School in 1967 and from the Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University (Department of Economics) in 1972.He earned a doctorate with a dissertation titled “Financing of State Economic Enterprises”.

Public Service

Eğilmez began his career in 1972 at the Ministry of Finance as an Assistant Finance Inspector, becoming a Finance Inspector in 1975. He served as Deputy Director‑General of Revenues ad interim (1980‑1981) and was seconded abroad for training in 1981‑1982. He then headed departments at the General Directorate of Revenues and the MIT General Secretariat (1982‑1983), led the Department of Public Enterprises and Affiliates (1983‑1985), and was Deputy Director‑General of Public Finance (1985‑1987).

He worked at the Embassy of Türkiye in Washington, D.C., as Commercial Counsellor (1987‑1989) and Chief Counsellor (1991‑1995). In 1989, he was appointed Director‑General of Public Finance and later served as Deputy Under-Secretary of the Treasury. Appointed Under‑Secretary of the Treasury in July 1997, he left that post and public service in December 1997.

During his public career he was on the boards of Elektromekanik Sanayii A.Ş. (TEMSAN) and the Turkish Electricity Authority (TEK), was a member of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), and represented Türkiye as governor or alternate governor at the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.

Private‑Sector and Media Work

Entering the private sector in 1998, Eğilmez held advisory, chairmanship, and board membership roles in various banks and companies, including Executive Board Member of Garanti Bank and Chairman of Garanti Leasing and Doğuş Human Resources.

He wrote columns for Yeni Yüzyıl and Radikal newspapers and CNBC‑e Business magazine, and appeared as an economics commentator on CNBC‑e and NTV (2005‑2018). Since 2011, he has published analyses on his blog.

Academic Career

Eğilmez taught courses in economics and public finance at Istanbul Bilgi University between 2000 and 2010, and at Kadir Has University from 2011 to 2017. He is currently a faculty member at Altınbaş University.

Economic and Social Views

Favouring a free‑market economy yet supporting public intervention when necessary, Eğilmez adopts a centrist stance. He supports privatisation in principle, arguing that the state should produce only in strategic and social sectors. His analyses are based on scientific reasoning and quantitative methods.

Interests and Hittite Studies

Outside economics, Eğilmez studies archaeology—especially the Hittite civilisation. For this work, he received honorary citizenship from the municipalities of Çorum and Boğazkale (Hattusa) and was elected a corresponding member of the Turkish Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies.

Books

Eğilmez has published 26 books—16 on economics, three detective novels, two collections of Hittite historical stories, two essay collections, one memoir/diary, and one socio‑economic study:

• Value‑Added Tax: Theory and Practice – 1983
• The IMF, the World Bank and Türkiye– 1997
• The Treasury – 1997
• Light Diary – 2000
• How We Triggered Crises? – 2001
• Economic Policy – 2002
• Anitta’s Curse – 2002
• The Hittite Economy – 2005
• Escape from Hattusa – 2008
• The Global Financial Crisis – 2008
• Writings to Myself – 2012
• Easy Economics with Examples – 2014
• Public Finance – 2015
• In the Economy – 2016
• Turkey in a Process of Change – 2018
• The World Economy in Historical Perspective – 2019
• The Fundamentals of Economics – 2019
• The Turkish Economy – 2020
• Inferis – 2021
• The Fake Sultan – 2021
• Structural Reforms and Türkiye– 2022
• In Praise of Failure – 2023
• The Fund – 2023
• The New Economy – 2024