Bank head open to second term

South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said he’d be available to serve another five years at the helm of the central bank when his first term runs out in November next year – if he is asked to.

Kganyago was appointed by former president Jacob Zuma almost four years ago and another term will extend his stay as head of the Reserve Bank until 2024.

The governor and his three deputies are appointed by the leader of the country for a fixed five-year term and legislation makes no provision for their removal.

“If the appointing authority tells me somebody else could do the job, it is in their hands,” Kganyago, said.

Credit-rating companies have continuously cited the Reserve Bank and its leadership as institutional strengths for SA, even as they cut the nation’s debt to junk last year when Zuma changed the finance minister.

Kganyago and the central bank have successfully challenged an attempt by the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman to change the regulator’s inflation-target mandate. The governor called the steps recommended by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane “irrational” in court papers. – Bloomberg