In an interview with Congo's ex Minister of Finance during a documentary on Mobutu screened by Canal +, he was asked how he ended up living in such luxury, given he was mere civil servant. He answered : "It's simple, the President would ask me for a million dollars, I would ask the governor of the central bank for 2 million, and he would take out 3 million". Everyone wins!
SPONSORED BY:
‘It Can’t Be Any Worse’
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
SPONSORED BY
Do you view your term as a success?
It's a mystery to many how I have survived. I am modestly credited with the survival strategy of my country. The issue is if you want to break Zimbabwe and want it to fall, just deal with one man. You deal with Gideon Gono.
That sounds a bit egotistical.
I owe a lot of my character and who I am today from a humble background. I was poor. I got my start making tea and keeping house. That is when I developed my own philosophy of life. Don't look down on anybody. I still lay claim that I am the best tea maker in the world. Of cleaning floors and toilets I take pride. I'm a normal guy: I miss going to the supermarket. One would like more freedom.
Do you have constant security?
It's elaborate. It's an occupational hazard. If you ask Bernanke or Greenspan, it's the same, but it just differs in intensity. If you raise the interest rate you'll be friends of people who have access to money. If you lower the interest rate, you'll be the darling of borrowers, but pensioners will curse you to hell. It's never about popularity. At all times you are definitely hurting some people in the economy.
Many say you profit off the poverty of others.
That is simply not true.
What do you think of your many critics?
I have been in the trenches during every moment of survival for my country. Any central bank governor is of necessity. When things go bad, we governors are the fall guys. No other governor in the world has had to deal with the kind of inflation levels that I deal with, no other governor has to come up with the gymnastics and strategy for the survival of his country. But let me say that in my bank resides the cutting edge of the country. I'm privileged to be the leader of that team.
You've been called Mugabe's right-hand man. How closely involved in politics are you ? It's impossible to be directing the course of an entire economy and divorce yourself from politics. Politics are important because the turnaround of the economy hinges on political stability, but I can't tell when that will happen.
© 2009
Discuss