PRETORIA, May 11 – South African Reserve Bank has appointed Konstantin Makrelov to its Monetary Policy Committee, replacing outgoing member Chris Loewald following his retirement in March.
The central bank said in a statement from Pretoria on Monday that Makrelov’s appointment is effective immediately. He will also serve as the bank’s chief economist and join its Financial Stability Committee.
The move expands the Monetary Policy Committee to six members ahead of the bank’s next interest-rate decision scheduled for May 28.
At its previous meeting, the committee kept the benchmark rate unchanged at 6.75%, opting to maintain policy stability while assessing the economic impact of the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran on inflation and global energy markets.
Makrelov joined the central bank in 2018 and was appointed head of economic and climate change research in January 2024, where he contributed to monetary policy analysis and broader macroeconomic research.
Before joining the central bank, he spent 12 years at the National Treasury, focusing on fiscal forecasting and policy evaluation for major government programmes.
He holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, alongside degrees in economic science and commerce from the University of the Witwatersrand.
The appointment comes at a time when policymakers are navigating persistent inflation risks, currency pressures and global energy volatility linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
