President Andrej Kiska appoints Finance Minister Peter Kažimír as a new NBS governor. (source: Sme)
Incumbent Finance Minister Peter Kažimír will become the new governor of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), the country's central bank. President Andrej Kiska appointed him to the post on March 13.
Kažimír will take over his new position on June 1.
“Although I had a different opinion on the economic and financial policy of the state, we managed to restart our economy," Kiska acknowledged Kažimír's contribution as the finance minister, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Kažimír will replace incumbent governor Jozef Makúch. He decided to leave office on his own request, two years before the official end of his tenure.
“In my opinion, he [Kažimír] is truly a suitable candidate for governor," Makúch said, as quoted by TASR.
Giving up political posts
Kažimír has pledged to give up his parliamentary seat in the upcoming days. He will subsequently meet with PM Peter Pellegrini (Smer) and Smer chair Robert Fico to settle the date of his resignation from the post at the Finance Ministry.
"As NBS governor, you must be independent and impartial," Kiska told Kažimír, as quoted by TASR.
The new governor, who has been in politics for more than a decade, will be the subject of the public interest and control, the president added.
Kiska expects Kažimír to turn NBS into a generator of new economic ideas so that Slovakia may become even more prosperous. Also, Kažimír wants to continue with Makúch's work so that the central bank is seen as a modern institution.
"Slovakia still ranks among those countries with the strongest economic growth," Kažimír said, as quoted by TASR.
