SA: FM says no one discussing to alter central bank mandate despite governor's proposal

South Africa's Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday that "nobody was talking about changing the mandate of the Reserve Bank", after a public spat between senior officials about the focus of the central bank.

"I don't understand why the obsession about the central bank. ... That mandate is very clearly articulated in the Constitution," Mboweni said. "Why are we saying things we know are going to destabilise the market?"

On the other hand, the governor of South Africa's central bank, Lesetja Kganyago recently cited that the bank's primary mandate is price stability. He also emphasized on augmenting the bank's mandate to explicitly include job creation.