Finance
New BIS head stresses importance of central bank independence and accountability
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
The new BIS head stresses the importance of central bank independence and accountability, highlighting the need for focus on inflation and protection from political influence.
By Marc Jones
LONDON (Reuters) -The new head of the Bank for International Settlements has used his first prominent speech to stress the need for central banks to focus on inflation and for their independence from politicians to be protected.
Uncertainty around the world's most important monetary authority, the Federal Reserve, has risen this year as U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised its Chair Jerome Powell and on Monday announced he was firing one of its governors, Lisa Cook.
"A clear price stability mandate, independence and accountability are the anchor, hull and mast of the monetary policy vessel," Pablo Hernandez de Cos, who in July took over as General Manager of BIS, often dubbed the central bankers' central bank, said in a speech.
He did not address Trump's moves directly but laid out what he described as the "foundations" for central bank credibility.
Independence was vital so central bankers are able to set interest rates and use tools like quantitative easing, "based on economic considerations in the long-term public interest, free from short-term political interference," the former Bank of Spain Governor said.
(Reporting by Marc JonesEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
A central bank is a financial institution that manages a country's currency, money supply, and interest rates. It oversees monetary policy and aims to ensure financial stability.
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises, eroding purchasing power. It is often measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Monetary policy refers to the actions taken by a central bank to control the money supply and interest rates to achieve macroeconomic objectives such as controlling inflation and stabilizing currency.
Financial stability is a condition where the financial system operates efficiently, with institutions able to withstand shocks and maintain the flow of funds to the economy.
Accountability in banking refers to the obligation of financial institutions to report, explain, and be answerable for their actions and decisions, ensuring transparency and ethical conduct.
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