The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye will host leading central bankers and economic policymakers at the Istanbul Economic Forum on October 8–9, 2026, at the Istanbul Financial Center. According to Reuters, citing the forum programme, 16 central bank governors and eight deputy governors are due to attend. The finance ministers of Türkiye and Egypt, together with representatives of international financial institutions, are also scheduled to take part in the two-day event.
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek is expected to deliver the opening address. Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan is listed among the participants and will moderate the first panel, titled “Strategic Outlook in the Global Economy.” The programme is designed to bring different monetary-policy perspectives into the same venue and examine inflation, growth and financial stability across both advanced and emerging economies.
Named participants include Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, Bank for International Settlements General Manager Pablo Hernández de Cos and Banque de France Governor Emmanuel Moulin. The governors of the central banks of Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are also expected in Istanbul. The line-up gives the forum a broad geographic range and brings together officials facing different combinations of inflation, growth and financial-market risks.
The Federal Reserve’s public schedule says Waller will speak on the “Economic Outlook” at 11:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, October 8. The schedule states that prepared text will be released, questions will be taken from the moderator and audience, and the session will be webcast. That entry provides separate official confirmation of Waller’s participation and the timing and format of his appearance.
The forum’s main themes include navigating a more fragmented global economy, conducting monetary policy under uncertainty, debt dynamics, and the implications of artificial intelligence and digital innovation for macroeconomic policy. The agenda indicates that participants will look beyond near-term interest-rate decisions to discuss trade fragmentation, technology investment and structural changes in financial systems.
Hosting the meeting in Istanbul gives Türkiye a prominent venue for direct engagement with international monetary officials. The event is not, however, a rate-setting meeting. Speakers will present their own institutions’ assessments and policy perspectives, and the forum is not expected to produce a joint monetary-policy decision. That distinction matters because individual remarks should not be treated as a collective commitment by the institutions represented.
Reuters reported that speeches and panels will be broadcast online. The Federal Reserve schedule also links to the Istanbul Economic Forum and the Turkish central bank’s live webcast pages for Waller’s session. This will allow economists, investors and the public to follow the discussions outside the conference venue and compare officials’ assessments as they are delivered.
Global inflation, elevated debt, energy and geopolitical risks, and the effects of digital technologies on productivity and employment are likely to be central to the discussions. The forum’s main news value lies not in a single speech but in bringing decision-makers from a wide range of economies together at the same time. As the programme unfolds and prepared remarks are published, each official’s policy message can be assessed on its own terms and against the conditions facing that official’s economy.
