The Business Day‘s story “Tito the tease stuns the market” was accompanied by the mock magazine cover “Repo Rap: the magazine for central bankers”. The sketch shows an unflattering image of Mboweni with his hand in an inappropriate place, insinuating that he is a “wanker”.
The article stated that the credibility of the bank and the governor is threatened after its “prank” and “bait and switch tactics”, referring to the 50-point interest rate hike Mboweni pulled after terrifying threats of “drastic hikes up to 200 points”.
However, Mboweni has taken strident calls for an interest rate announcement that acknowledged the market slowdown of the economy and the effects of rising fuel and food costs.
So are the humiliating captions such as :”Inflation targeting: Fatal overshoots and hopeless near-misses AN ADDICT CONFESSES” and “SA’s banker reveals why he raps like a hawk and acts like a chicken!!!” justified? Or are they too personal?
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