South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago as New Chairman

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, January 19, 2018/ — The members of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy advisory committee of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have selected Mr. Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, as Chairman of the Committee for a term of three years, effective January 18, 2018. Mr. Kganyago succeeds Mr. Agustín Carstens, former Governor of the Banco de México, who resigned his chairmanship on December 1, 2017 to assume the position of General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Mr. Kganyago has been the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank since November 2014. He served as Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank from May 2011, and was responsible for a wide range of areas, including research, financial stability and regulatory reform, bank supervision, and risk management and compliance. During his tenure as Director-General of the National Treasury of South Africa, he successfully steered a number of public finance and financial markets reforms. Mr. Kganyago led South Africa’s technical team to various meetings of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, including during South Africa’s presidency in 2007. Mr. Kganyago also chaired the IMF/World Bank Development Committee Deputies and the G20 Working Group on IMF Governance Reform. Mr. Kganyago is currently the chair of the Association of African Central Bankers, the chair of the Committee of Central Bank Governors of the Southern African Development Community, and the co-chair of the Financial Stability Board’s Regional Consultative Group for Sub-Saharan Africa. He is also the chair of the Financial Stability Board’s Standing Committee on Standards Implementation.

Background
The IMFC, comprising finance ministers and central bank governors, is the primary advisory body of the IMF Board of Governors and deliberates on the principal policy issues facing the IMF. The Committee has 24 members, reflecting the composition of the IMF Executive Board. Each member country or group of countries that elects an Executive Director also appoints a member of the Committee. The IMFC normally meets twice a year—in the spring and at the time of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in the fall. Its next meeting will be held on April 20-21, 2018 in Washington, D.C.