Beyond their core mandates, central banks must also respond to the actions of their peers to achieve their aims. Global Finance grades their success and interviews eight central bank governors about 2024 and 2025.
For central banks worldwide, the past 12 months have been very challenging. They are not only fighting inflation and trying to avoid a recession, often supporting their local job market, but they are also dealing with and trying to anticipate the moves of other—and frequently bigger—central banks around the world, while trying to protect their own currency and often while working to prepare for a new monetary policy based on expectations of lower growth and lower (but still historically high) inflation. They usually react in real time to other central bank moves, including the possibility and risk of taking an independent stand with their interest rates based on a different assessment of economic conditions. So it has been a complicated balancing act between growth and inflation for most governors, with the additional need for intense scrutiny—and real-time reactions—for what their peers globally are doing, often to protect their currencies.
Inflation control, economic growth and related short- and medium-term targets, currency stability, and monetary policy are the main criteria we applied in judging central banks in nearly 100 countries, territories, and districts, as well as regional central banks like the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of Central African States, and the Central Bank of West African States. Our scores reflect not just pure economic performance, often in a regional context, but also—wherever possible—adherence to the stated mandate of each specific central bank. That is why high and low scores often appear within the same region and do not differentiate in any way between large and small economies.
And yet, in the 30 years since this annual report was launched, we have rarely found ourselves in a situation like the one of the last couple of months: The report cards are based on the performance of central banks from July 1, 2023, to the end of June this year; but since then, a lot has happened in monetary policy around the world, including the first cut in interest rates in over four years by the US Federal Reserve, the second one in a few months by the ECB, a significant monetary stimulus by the People’s Bank of China, and many others cuts with a sort of cascade effect. This would probably not have changed any of the scores received by the governors, but it forced us to update the related commentaries.
The fact that the top-scored governors (the ones who received an A+, A, or A-) represent large and small economies, advanced and emerging, is one of the most apparent indicators that we are judging not just economic performance or growth but other criteria as well. For example, the economies of Denmark, India, and Switzerland—the three recipients of an A+ this year—have relatively little in common when it comes to inflation, interest rates, employment, and so on. Their governors received the top rating in consideration of the results of their monetary policy in light of the specific economic conditions of their countries and the specific mandates of their central banks. Some central bankers kindly agreed to be interviewed for this special report, but none knew their report cards in advance. We wanted to assess and report their priorities and concerns, to present relevant voices from all over the world.
While we previously announced the top-rated governors, this report presents all other scores for the first time. As much as we strive for diversity in scores and regions, some scores inevitably cluster closely. The final grades reflect intense and often stimulating internal discussions at Global Finance.
Methodology
Global Finance editors, with input from financial industry sources, grade the world’s leading central bankers from A to F, with A+ being the highest grade and F the lowest, based on objective and subjective metrics. These judgments are based on performance from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. A governor must have held office for at least a year to receive a letter grade. Central bankers in countries that are in deep conflicts are not included due to incomplete information.
An algorithm supports consistency of grading across geographies. The proprietary formula factors in monetary policy, financial system supervision, asset-purchase and bond-sale programs, forecasting and guidance, transparency, political independence, and success in meeting the national mandate (which differs from country to country).
| Central Bankers Earning “A+” Grades in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | Governor | Grade |
| Denmark | Christian Kettel Thomsen | A+ |
| India | Shaktikanta Das | A+ |
| Switzerland | Thomas Jordan | A+ |
| Central Bankers Earning “A” Grades in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Roberto Campos Neto | A |
| Chile | Rosanna Costa | A |
| Mauritius | Harvesh Kumar Seegolam | A |
| Morocco | Abdellatif Jouahri | A |
| South Africa | Lesetja Kganyago | A |
| Sri Lanka | Nadalal Weerasinghe | A |
| Vietnam | Nguyen Thi Hong | A |
| Central Bankers Earning “A-” Grades in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cambodia | Chea Serey | A- |
| Canada | Tiff Macklem | A- |
| Costa Rica | Róger Madrigal López | A- |
| Dominican Republic | Héctor Valdez Albizu | A- |
| European Union | Christine Lagarde | A- |
| Guatemala | Alvaro González Ricci | A- |
| Indonesia | Perry Warjiyo | A- |
| Jamaica | Richard Byles | A- |
| Jordan | Adel Al-Sharkas | A- |
| Mongolia | Byadran Lkhagvasuren | A- |
| Norway | Ida Wolden Bache | A- |
| Peru | Julio Velarde Flores | A- |
| Philippines | Eli Remolona | A- |
| Sweden | Erik Thedéen | A- |
| United States of America | Jerome Hayden Powell | A- |
