The National Bank of Rwanda Governor John Rwangombwa was yesterday announced Sub-Saharan Africa Central Bank Governor of year in the 2015 Emerging Markets Awards held at the close of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings that took place in the Peruvian Capital, Lima.

In his acceptance speech given before hundreds of other governors and ministers of finance who attended the IMF/WB annual meetings, Rwangombwa dedicated the award to fellow Rwandans ‘who have chosen to work together to build our nation from the scratches it was two decades ago.’

He also said the award was in recognition of the hard work and commitment of his staff at BNR before extending special thanks to President Paul Kagame who he said has ‘always guided us towards setting and achieving ambitious goals.’

"Honestly speaking, if it wasn’t for the leadership we have (in Rwanda) today, I wouldn’t be standing in front of you to receive this award,” said Rwangombwa.

But the award, Rwangombwa said, is also a call for action at a critical time when the global economy is not doing well adding that it requires countries to tighten their belts to be able to overcome the challenges ahead.

He however expressed happiness in the fact that over the last decade, the Rwandan economy has been performing well with a growth of around 8 percent on average and an average inflation of around 5 percent.

"The Government of Rwanda has adopted targeted policy measures to stimulate growth, reduce poverty and income inequality and thanks to the good political leadership, poverty reduced from 57 percent in 2005/06 to 39.1 percent in 2013/14, while income inequality has also reduced,” he said.

Rwangombwa’s award was on the account of the contribution of policies of the central bank towards Rwanda’s current economic stability.

For instance, through implementing an accommodative monetary policy, BNR has supported financing of the economy through the banking sector while maintaining inflation rates at low level.

The central bank is also credited for implementing a flexible exchange rate regime through which it intervenes on the domestic foreign exchange market to ease excessive exchange rate volatility which has ensured a stable currency even during these difficult times.

"Let me once again thank Emerging Markets for this honor, and again congratulate my countrymen and more specifically my colleagues at the Central Bank to whom I dedicate this award,” said Rwangombwa.

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