• This follows the imminent retirement of Patrick Njoroge, whose two terms end next month.
• Thugge is currently serving as a senior adviser and head of fiscal affairs and budget policy at the State House.
Image: ENOS TECHE
President William Ruto has nominated former National Treasury PS Kamau Thugge as Central Bank governor.
This follows the imminent retirement of Patrick Njoroge, whose two terms end next month. He has been at the helm of the apex bank since July 19, 2015.
If approved by the National Assembly, Thugge will become Kenya's 10th CBK governor after trouncing Dorcas Mutonyi, Haron Sirima, Edward Sambili, Nancy Onyango and Adan Mohamed, who were shortlisted by the Public Service Commission early this month.
Thugge is currently serving as a senior adviser and head of fiscal affairs and budget policy at the State House.
He was forced out of his position at the National Treasury over his alleged role in the multibillion-shilling Kimwarer and Arror dams' construction in Elgeyo Marakwet.
Thugge was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2021.
Before joining the exchequer, he worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as senior economist and deputy division chief.
He is credited with playing a pivotal role in influencing the design of Kenya’s current fiscal decentralisation system and coordinating the formulation of legislation for implementing devolution, including the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, and the Commission on Revenue Allocation Act, 2011.
If approved by Parliament, he will face the daunting task to stabilise the shilling which has sharply depreciated against the dollar and a heavy government debt burden, which is threatening to upset years of macro stability.
On Monday, the shilling touched a new low against the greenback to close the day at Sh138, having shed almost 16 per cent year-on-year.
He will also have to battle with a set of monetary policy measures to put the rising inflation in check.
Njoroge has in the past 16 months been forced to raise the anchor lending rate four times in a bid to put brakes on the rising cost of living.
In March, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised the Central Bank rate by 75 basis points. This is a rise from 8.75 per cent that had been retained in the previous MPC meeting.
In May, the MPC raised the anchor rate by 50 basis points to 7.50 after retaining it since April 2020 to provide an accommodative stance to the economy which suffered disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In September, the regulator further raised the rate to 8.25 per cent after the country's inflation went beyond the set ceiling of 7.5 per cent.
He is also expected to ensure discipline in the banking sector and avert bank failures witnessed in the 1990s and the collapse of Imperial Bank and Chase Bank in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Colorado College, US, Masters in Economics from Johns Hopkins University, US, and PhD in Economics from the same university.