Exasperated Mboweni’s rebuke to reckless Reserve Bank underminers

There are few people that enjoy their tweets as much as Tito Mboweni, well maybe President Donald Trump. But Trump’s social post can cause jitters in markets. This week’s Mboweni’s posts were meant to calm a storm. When the ANC Lekgotla concluded that the Reserve Bank should consider “quantitative easing”, giving another kick in the teeth to the rand which was already sliding because of the day’s dismal first quarter GDP figures, he was quick to take to Twitter to say that the Government sets the mandate for the South African Reserve Bank. “There is no quantitative easing thing here.” Speaking at the release of new commemorative coins Mboweni said he has been called by the international media and has been asked what people in South Africa have been smoking. He also released a much longer statement on Facebook slamming political interference of the Reserve Bank. - Linda van Tilburg