Zimbabwe's Central Bank chief gets 2nd tenure

Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mangudya will be retained for a second term by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Presidential spokesman, George Charamba told the state-owned Herald newspaper on Thursday.

The announcement follows speculation that the bank chief, who was first appointed for a five-year term in May 2014, would lose his job following a worsening dollar crunch.

Charamba said,’‘the President is very clear on the Reserve Bank Governor’s tenure and his performance. Not only is he there to stay but the President is about to renew his contract for a second tenure’‘.

Charamba declined further comment when contacted by Reuters.

During Zimbabwe’s hyper-inflation in 2016, Mangudya introduced the surrogate “bond note” currency, supposedly pegged to the U.S. dollar.

He blamed high import bills and a government budget deficit of 11.1 percent of GDP for the US dollar shortages while he defended the use of bond notes.