Independent SARB in the best interest of economy: Kganyago
Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago says the bank's mandate is to protect the value of the currencyin the interest of balanced and sustainable growth.
"That tells you that fathers and mothers of our Constitution took the view that for you to have balance and sustainable growth, you need price stability. We are very thankful that our forebears fought in this manner," Kganyago said.
Kganyago was responding to a question following yesterday's announcement that the repo rate would remain unchanged at 6.75%.
He was asked if the bank would defend attempts to change its mandate to include job creation and economic growth.
After the ANC's manifesto launch at the weekend - the party's secretary general suggested the reserve bank would be nationalised under what the ANC calls a "flexible monetary policy regime".
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Kganyago says in order to change the central bank's mandate - the Constitution would need to be amended. He's stressed the importance of an independent reserve bank.
"When the Constitutional Court had to pronounce on the Constitution for its consistency with those Constitutional principles - one of the principles that had to be tested was whether the Constitution adheres to the principle of having an independent central bank tasked with protecting price stability," Kganyago said.
