Succession of central bankers: sensitive decisions at play

THE post-financial crisis extension of central bankers' responsibilities into policy areas overlapping with governments makes them vulnerable to political pressures, especially since these institutions frequently seem to be acting as governmental substitutes. The squabble over negative interest rates between Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, and Mario Draghi, European Central Bank (ECB) president, underlines how, when governments and central banks point in different directions, sparks can fly.

In view of periodic round-the-world jostling over monetary and financial measures, government decisions on replacing key central bankers when their term of office ends are more than usually sensitive. So it is reassuring that in three important medium-sized countries - the Czech Republic, Malaysia and Poland - governments have been making delicate choices on new governors, suggesting their central banks will preserve cherished autonomy.

The tussle between Mr Draghi and the Germans underwent a further twist on May 2. The ECB president, at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Frankfurt, blamed Germany for generating a new, destabilising "savings glut" through persistent high current account surpluses.