RWANDA: Rwangombwa gets another term at Central Bank

An Extraordinary Cabinet Meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame has extended the contract of Central bank’s governor, John Rwangombwa for another six years.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office revealed that Cabinet approved the new term of Rwangombwa who has been at the helm since 2013.

Mr Rwangombwa, a trained accountant has been credited with helping to maintain stability in the economy during his first term. The trade deficit decreased by two percent in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 last year.

The decrease was attributed to the increase in formal export receipts, which rose by 23.2 per cent in the first half of 2018. The trade deficit reduction was due to good performance in exports in the period.

There was an increase in export volumes such as minerals, tea, and coffee and as well as made-in-Rwanda products.

At the same time re-exports increased by 22.2 per cent in the first half of 2018, while non-traditional exports increased by 19.1 per cent in the same period.

The reduction of the trade deficit has seen the Rwandan Franc remain stable against the dollar with the central bank revealing that the Rwandan currency depreciated by 1.7 per cent against the US dollar.

Rwanda’s economy continues to register strong performance after registering 10.6 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2018, up from 10.5 recorded in the previous quarter.

Rwanda targets to double the current average annual GDP from the current 5.4 per cent growth rate to more than 10 percent to be able to reach upper middle income status by 2035, according to ministry of finance and economic planning.

Rwanda’s economic pillars that include tourism, manufacturing, retail and wholesale and mining are also projected to deliver above 10 per cent of GDP growth by 2035.

According to the 2017 World Bank report, Rwanda has the potential to be one of Africa’s great success stories given it’s a dynamic social and economic transformation.