South Africa
Sarb gains greater regulatory oversight
President Zuma signs ‘twin peaks model’ into law, granting central bank powers to mitigate risk and shore up financial stability
Sarb expands financial supervision
Deputy governor explains the Sarb’s new financial supervisory structure, and indicates it may affect central bank independence
Court dismisses ‘irrational’ Sarb mandate challenge
Judge finds South African public protector’s attempt to change the Sarb’s mandate was illegal, irrational and unfair
Sarb denies fintech firms have joined ‘sandbox’
South African central bank denies claims a blockchain start-up has been accepted into the scheme, as it does not currently exist; a working group is in discussions on feasibility
Kganyago: monetary policy can't solve South Africa’s structural issues
Governor defends mandate, saying Sarb is focusing on what it “can do”, not “what it would like to do”; no “narrow focus”
Sarb takes action amid ‘extremely weak’ demand
Central bank revises down its forecasts as economic situation deteriorates; governor warns of possible cliff effect if there are further rating downgrades
Kganyago says public protector’s response was ‘not good enough’
Response to central bank’s challenge exposed Mkhwebane’s “own lack of competency”, Sarb governor says, reiterating that the central bank’s mandate should be “left alone”
Public protector backs down over Sarb mandate challenge
Mkhwebane admits she lacks power to suggest parliament make changes to the constitution, though she stands by her call for a review of the Sarb’s mandate
Change in ownership would not impact mandate, Sarb reassures
South African central bank responds to ruling party discussion on nationalisation; draft resolution could be approved in December, forcing over 660 people to sell their shares
Open letter condemns public protector’s Sarb comments
Mkhwebane’s comments pose “grave threat” to South Africa’s economy, academics and economists warn, though they are open to mandate debate as long as it is “appropriate”
Sarb to increase engagement on monetary policy
Governor says central bank officials should be the ones to outline “sensible” view of monetary policy; wants debate over mandate to be based on facts
Sarb appeals to court in battle to defend mandate
Kganyago stresses public protector’s words have had a “serious and detrimental effect on the economy”; her recommendations risk “further downgrades”, he says
South African governor rejects calls to change mandate
Public protector calls for the central bank to drop the defence of the value of the rand
Sarb monetary policy committee does not suffer from ‘groupthink’ – Kganyago
Sarb governor says there are often disagreements when it comes to policy decisions; central banks have now become “masters of communication”
Sarb’s Kahn: current conditions ‘do not bode well’ for economy
Kganyago’s advisor says political uncertainty is likely to continue throughout 2017 with no clear sign business or consumer confidence will improve
More regulation ‘may not fix problematic conduct’, says Sarb’s Mminele
Deputy governor appeals to the entire financial market to challenge and realign current culture; “fundamental shift” needed in order to rebuild “trust deficit”
Sarb calls for comment on framework for deposit insurance scheme
Facility will provide cover of up to 100,000 rand in the event of a bank failure, with emergency liquidity from Sarb if necessary
Sarb should leave monetary policy alone – IMF
South Africa’s current monetary policy stance is bringing inflation under control, fund mission says, advising the central bank to leave government reforms to do the legwork following downgrade
Illicit capital flows a problem for countries without capital controls – Mminele
Mminele explains how capital controls benefited cross-border flow monitoring; Sarb deputy calls for a “more consistent” approach to capital flow management
Worst could be yet to come, warns Sarb
Further credit downgrades could result in further outflows of investment in South Africa, threatening the strength of the rand and overall financial stability; governor Kganyago says central bank will work to avoid more volatility
Adopting a dual mandate will not solve South African unemployment – Kganyago
Unemployment problems are caused by structural issues, Sarb governor says; scope for reducing unemployment through monetary policy is “smaller” than people imagine
Sarb will take ‘defensive posture’ to debt downgrade, says Ballim
South Africa’s central bank is unlikely to respond to country’s junk debt status unless rand volatility starts to affect prices; Fitch joins S&P in downgrading country’s sovereign debt
Sarb deputy says political uncertainty will affect policy normalisation
Mminele asks whether central banks will enforce notion of economic slack as forward guidance reaches limits; political uncertainty rocking the policy landscape
End of ‘hiking cycle’ has been reached – Sarb’s Kganyago
South African Reserve Bank publishes improved inflation forecast as the MPC votes to leave interest rates at 7%; uncertainty around the exchange rate is still a concern