Marcus to Step Down as South African Central Bank Governor

South African central bank Governor Gill Marcus said she will step down from her post when her five-year term ends in November, leaving room for one of her deputies to succeed her.

Marcus, who turned 65 on Aug. 10, said she informed President Jacob Zuma that she won’t resume her post when her contract expires on Nov. 8. The surprise announcement, which was made in response to a question at a scheduled press conference after she said the benchmark interest rate will remain unchanged at 5.75 percent, caused the rand to temporarily weaken against the dollar. Zuma hasn’t decided on her replacement yet, his spokesman Mac Maharaj said by phone.

“I have advised the president some time ago that I will not be available,” she told reporters in Pretoria. “I think the bank has an outstanding team of leadership, both in the executive monetary policy leadership and management of the bank.”

Marcus, a former deputy finance minister and chairwoman of Barclays Plc’s South African unit, took office in 2009 after the global financial crisis hit, which had dragged the local economy into its first recession in 17 years and pushed up inflation.

Her move opens the way for one of her experienced deputies, Daniel Mminele or Lesetja Kganyago, to take up the top post at the bank, according to economists, including Goolam Ballim at Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s biggest lender.

“Its sad to see her leave but there is depth of talent in the Monetary Policy Committee and the likes of Mminele or Kganyago may succeed her,” he said by phone from Johannesburg.

Weak Growth

Stability has been a hallmark of Marcus’s tenure. During the time that she’s led the MPC, the benchmark rate has been adjusted just six times compared with 17 in the previous five years.

The next governor will be tasked with curbing an inflation rate that’s exceeded the 3 percent to 6 percent target for the past five months, while supporting an economy set to expand at its slowest pace since a 2009 recession. Inflation probably peaked at an average 6.5 percent in the second quarter and will average 6.2 percent this year, down from a previous forecast of 6.3 percent, Marcus said in the MPC statement today.

“She has been a very good governor,” Rian le Roux, chief economist of Old Mutual Investment Group, which has about $53 billion under management, said by phone from Cape Town. “Her communication skills have been particularly good. You probably can’t fault what the bank has done over time.”

Le Roux added that he expects her successor to be either Mminele or Kganyago, if Zuma decides to appoint someone from within the bank.