Mnangagwa re-appoints RBZ governor Mangudya for new 5-year term
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Mnangagwa re-appoints RBZ governor Mangudya for new 5-year term

John Panonetsa Mangudya

HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has re-appointed John Mangudya as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for a further five years.

The 55-year-old, who once promised to resign if the country’s surrogate bond note currency failed, has presided over a tumultuous period in the financial sector.

“The extension takes effect from May 1, 2019, for another five years,” said Chief Cabinet secretary Misheck Sibanda.

Mangudya was first appointed to the post in 2014 but his term was marred by the bank’s decision to introduce the surrogate bond note currency two years later in a bid to end a severe shortage of United States dollars and cash.

 

Former Senator David Coltart (MDC) said Mangudya has “wrought chaos on Zimbabwe’s economy.”

“We can expect more quasi-fiscal activity and more irresponsibility. He obviously knows too much to be moved on,” Coltart said.

Nick Branson, a senior research analyst on Africa at Verisk Maplecroft, equated Mangudya’s re-appointment to rewarding failure, as he warned that efforts by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube to deliver on economic reforms had been dealt a blow.

“How can anyone take Zimbabwe seriously when Emmerson Mnangagwa is unwilling or unable to cut dead weight like Mangudya at the Reserve Bank?,” Branson said.

Mangudya has presided over two major currency reforms, first with the introduction of bond notes in 2016 at a discredited 1:1 pegging with the United States dollar. He abandoned that pegging in February this year and introduced the RTGS currency at an initial pegging of 1:2.50, with the consequent loss on savings for millions of Zimbabweans.

Mangudya’s re-appointment had been largely expected after Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba said the governor would get a second term.

Zimbabwe is gripped by a severe shortage of dollars that has seen the country struggle to import food and medicines for hospitals.-zimlive

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