Comments on the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill [B26 – 2018]

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) submitted comments to the Finance Standing Committee regarding the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Amendment Bill [B26 – 2018]. While supporting the transition to sole state ownership of the bank to align with international norms, the IEJ argues that ownership changes alone will not resolve policy incoherence or achieve sustainable economic growth. The IEJ advocates for a broader review of the SARB Act to expand the bank's mandate toward green structural transformation and increase coordination between monetary and fiscal policy.

• The IEJ supports the proposed amendments to make the state the sole shareholder of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and to allow the Minister of Finance to appoint Board directors, noting that most central banks globally do not have private shareholding.
• The IEJ asserts that changing ownership does not inherently affect the SARB's independence or solve policy misalignment, as independence is derived from the legislative framework rather than ownership. The IEJ argues that the SARB's current focus on inflation targeting has hindered job creation and developmental growth.
• The IEJ recommends a broader review of the SARB Act 1989 to expand the bank's mandate to include poverty reduction, inequality reduction, and green structural transformation. They suggest tempering the SARB's independence through increased coordination with the Executive, potentially via a new independent economic commission comprising government, unions, civil society, and the private sector.
• The IEJ proposes removing specific prohibitions in Section 13 of the Act to allow the SARB to provide direct financing to the fiscus and public banks. Specifically, they suggest allowing the purchase of stocks and loans to public banks for developmental priorities and the direct acquisition of new stock issuances from the National Treasury.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2025). Comments on the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill [B26 – 2018]. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IEJ-Submission-on-Amendment-of-SARB-Act.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Comments on the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill [B26 – 2018]. 2025. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IEJ-Submission-on-Amendment-of-SARB-Act.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Comments on the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill [B26 – 2018] |date=1 July 2025 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IEJ-Submission-on-Amendment-of-SARB-Act.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2025comments, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Comments on the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill [B26 – 2018]}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IEJ-Submission-on-Amendment-of-SARB-Act.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }