Articles on central banks

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Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. He left the job after concerted political attacks. Reuters/Shailesh Andrade

Reserve Bank independence: sobering lessons from India and South Africa

Attacks on the South African Reserve Bank and events in India that led to the exit of the governor of the country's central bank are a warning that banks aren't immune from political meddling.

Economic forecasting: why it matters and why it’s so often wrong

The rand’s current weakness can be attributed to a myriad of structural problems facing South Africa’s economy. Reuters

Explainer: how currency markets work and why the South African rand is falling

Like any commodity, the value of the rand is determined by the market forces of supply and demand. Its weakening is also affected by a myriad of structural problems facing the South African economy.
Nelson Mandela with his predecessor FW de Klerk. Tough questions are being raised about the compromises Mandela made for South Africa’s transition to democracy. Reuters/Peter Andrews

Why South Africa should undo Mandela’s economic deals

South Africa's transition into democracy involved compromises that left white privilege intact and black poverty undiminished. Here are a dozen of Mandela's economic deals that need to be undone.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has taken a no-nonsense approach to curbing inflation. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

India debates monetary policy in shadow of US rate rise

Monetary policy involves more than managing inflation, which is why it sometimes takes a committee to decide interest rates.
Money is much more than just bank notes and coins issued by central banks. EPA/Aaron Ufumeli

Explainer: the real role of banks in money creation

The misguided belief that banks create money out of nothing has generated public anger with organisations and individuals calling for an overhaul of the system and an end to money creation by banks.

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