Njuguna Ndung’u, a former governor of Kenya’s central bank, was chosen finance minister on Tuesday by President William Ruto to guide the country’s economy through a drought, high debt load, and growing inflation.
Professor of economics Ndung’u oversaw the central bank from 2007 to 2015, receiving acclaim for overseeing the growth of the financial sector and criticism for putting growth over price stability in 2011.
After a fiercely contested election, Ruto was sworn in this month, making a pledge to the underprivileged that he would open up economic prospects.
However, because of increased public borrowing to fund infrastructure projects under his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta‘s administration, he has a very limited fiscal flexibility to put his proposals into action.
Additionally, due to cattle producers losing their herds, the nation is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years.
“We appreciate that we have a difficult economic situation on our hands,” the president said as he unveiled his cabinet.
He pleaded with the legislature to promptly accept his cabinet picks so that the administration could get to work on the economy.
In order to oversee government operations, Ruto also selected Musalia Mudavadi, a former vice president and deputy prime minister, as his chief minister.
He appointed Aden Duale, a politician, as his defense minister and Alfred Mutua, a former county governor and government spokesman, as his minister of foreign affairs. However, given the situation of the economy, Ndung’u will be the center of attention.
Ndung’u, who received his doctorate from a Swedish university, overcame a political crisis in 2012 when the shilling’s rapid devaluation and rising inflation led to attempts by the legislature to remove him from office.
In the years that followed, he redeemed himself as a central banker by controlling inflation after rising interest rates and then gradually stabilising them. The incumbent governor of the central bank, Patrick Njoroge, will leave office in June of the following year.
Before his appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Ndung’u was the director of training at the African Economic Research Consortium. He has lectured in advanced economic theory and econometrics at the University of Nairobi, where he was an associate professor of economics.
He also worked as a regional programme specialist for the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi, of the International Development Research Centre, Canada; and at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis as a principal analyst/researcher and head of the Macroeconomic and Economic Modelling Division.
Ndung’u has had extensive research and teaching work in various fields of economics, including macroeconomics, microeconomics, econometrics, and poverty reduction.
A long-time researcher and trainer with the AERC and MEFMI network, he has published in international journals as well as chapters in various books on economic policy issues, inflation, interest rate and exchange rate issues, financial management, public sector growth, external debt, financial liberalization in Anglophone Africa, structural adjustment, as well as on employment and labour market issues.