Christopher Loewald, the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) chief economist and member of the monetary policy committee (MPC), has opted to take early retirement from March, bringing down the curtain on a public service career spanning more than three decades.
The SARB said on Friday that Loewald, who has been with the institution since 2011, will take a six-month cooling-off period.
“Prior to joining the SARB in 2011, he spent 13 years at the National Treasury, where he was responsible for developing South Africa’s macroeconomic policy, serving on joint committees of the SARB and National Treasury to facilitate policy co-ordination,” the Bank said in a statement.
“In his roles as National Treasury’s head of international economics and deputy director‑general for economic policy, he contributed to South Africa’s international economic policy engagements and worked extensively on issues of economic growth and governance.”
“The SARB family extends its gratitude to Dr Loewald for his 15 years of dedicated service to the institution and wishes him every success in his future endeavours.”
The process of appointing Loewald’s successor is under way.
Many former Reserve Bank top staffers have gone on to hold top private-sector jobs as they wind down their illustrious careers.
Erstwhile SARB deputy governor Kuben Naidoo, who doubled as CEO of the Prudential Authority, went on to join Investec Bank in 2024 after a cooling-off period.
The Bank’s other former deputy governor, Daniel Mminele, served a stint as Absa CEO before settling at Nedbank, where he currently serves as chair of the board.
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