ANC proposes to change SARB mandate

JOHANNESBURG - The ANC is once again mooting the idea of changing the mandate of the South African Reserve Bank.

Discussions were held when the party reconvened its national conference last week.

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The SARB is currently responsible for monetary policy -- it sets interest rates to control inflation.

The Reserve Bank has repeatedly stated that economic growth and job creation fall outside its mandate, which is what the ANC would like to see included in the scope of the bank's work.

Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, Patrick Bond, says while it can be done, implementation from the ANC is unlikely.  

WATCH: ANC agrees to expand mandate of SARB

"The main example again is the US Fed it does have a full employment mandate, its even more radical than what the ANC is proposing with this sort of recent rhetoric," Bond said.

"They had tried to get the Reserve Bank under state control and the indepencence of the Reserve Bank in question.

"That failed in recent years because according to Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago you have to pay the current private shareholders enormous amounts of money because of the reserves held by the central bank."