Membership of the quirkiest club in global central banking just lost some of its cachet. South Africa’s Reserve Bank is one of a handful around the world still owned by shareholders, and that eccentric structure has just become another stick to beat it with after the ANC mooted ending the arrangement.
The party’s policy conference approved a proposal on Wednesday, yet to be ratified by the wider membership, that would then push to make the central bank fully state-owned.
What might look like an attempt at modernisation to conform with international practice carries with it the implicit threat of further miring one of South Africa’s most respected public institutions in the political fray.
The Reserve Bank is already enduring an attack on its inflation-targeting mandate by the public protector, and any move to legislate a new ownership structure could facilitate more drastic change… Read the entire article >>
[Source: The SA Sunday Times – Arabile Gumede – June 7, 2017]
