S. Africa's Central Bank Should Be Independent, Ramaphosa Says

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said he is committed to the independence of the country’s central bank even as the government considers nationalizing it.

The ANC last year adopted a motion calling for government ownership of the South African Reserve Bank, which is one of only a few central banks worldwide that is privately owned. In terms of the country’s constitution, the bank is independent from government, and private shareholders have no say over monetary policy.

“The Reserve Bank should be an independent entity,” Ramaphosa, who took over as President from Jacob Zuma in February, told reporters in Cape Town. “It should deal with monetary policy and government must focus on the fiscus. That is what I signed up for.”

Still, government was considering ways of implementing the ANC’s resolution to nationalize the central bank, he said.

“It is a resolution of the ruling party and so it has to be implemented,” Ramaphosa told reporters in Cape Town. “Watch this space.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Vecchiatto in Cape Town at pvecchiatto@bloomberg.net;Sam Mkokeli in Johannesburg at mmkokeli@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dana El Baltaji at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net, Robert Brand

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