PORT LOUIS (Reuters) -Mauritius’ Central Bank Governor Rama Sithanen has agreed to resign next week, following Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam’s call for him to step down, amid signs of a power struggle at the bank.
“I believe that, in the best interest of the central bank, in the best interest of the country, and for the stability and serenity of the institution, it is the right thing for me to step down,” Sithanen said in a televised speech on Saturday evening.
“I have agreed to resign, and I will do so next week.”
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Ramgoolam told reporters that while he did not question the governor’s competence, he had asked him to resign “in order for the Bank of Mauritius to regain its serenity”.
“It was clear that Rama Sithanen’s position had become untenable. This situation is unacceptable,” Ramgoolam said, adding that he would appoint a new second deputy governor on Monday and thereafter a new governor.
Deputy central bank governor Gerard Sanspeur resigned on August 29 after clashing with the son of the governor, whom he accused of trying to meddle in the running of the institution. Sanspeur held the title of second deputy governor.
Sanspeur told a press conference last month that the governor’s son “wanted to interfere in banking licences processes, in recruitment and laying off of staff and tender procedures”.
Sithanen has said the accusations against his son were false.
“One thing I can assure you is that no decision taken by the central bank was ever determined by the messages between these two persons,” he said, referring to his son and the second deputy governor.
Sithanen said he would have a meeting with the prime minister “to have a fair hearing”.
Ramgoolam commended the governor for his role in improving key performance indicators at the Bank of Mauritius. Since the beginning of the year, the rupee has appreciated by around 6% against the dollar, while annual inflation was running at 3.3% at the end of August, Ramgoolam said.
(Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff and Villen Anganan. Writing by Nqobile Dludla. Editing by Hugh Lawson)
