Not just RBI, other central banks are also being challenged by lawmakers

South Africa’s top monetary policy maker spoke for his peers around the world last week when he declared that central-bank independence from political meddling is no longer just an “emerging market phenomenon.”

The U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of England and European Central Bank are feeling the heat from elected lawmakers, while India and Turkey are among others under pressure.

“There’s concern among the central-banking community that the independence of central banks could be under threat,” South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said.

The threat could have real economic consequences: A study in the 1990s by economists Alberto Alesina and Lawrence Summers concluded