Kyrgyz governor steps down after three years

Zina Asankojoeva, the governor of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, has revealed her intention to step down from her role due to "family circumstances".

In a statement published yesterday (April 16), Asankojoeva thanked the "large, professional team" at the central bank for their help in achieving "a great deal" during her term as governor.

In less than three-and-a-half years, Asankojoeva oversaw some major changes to the National Bank's operations, perhaps most notably a shift from targeting monetary aggregates to targeting inflation. In an interview with Central Banking last year, the governor said a central aim was to keep inflation "in the single digits". In 2013, inflation averaged 6.6% and dropped to 4% year-on-year in December.

Other successes include the doubling of commercial bank assets, an increase of more than 50% in bank deposits, and a doubling of lending. "The low level of productivity and savings in the country, with the low domestic savings rate, is one of the critical limiting factors for economic growth," Asankojoeva said last year.

A graduate of the Kyrgyz State University with a degree in accounting and business analysis, Asankojoeva spent her early career working at the State Bank of the USSR in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, initially as deputy chief accountant and later as chief accountant.

She joined the Kyrgyz government after the country gained independence in 1991, running a number of finance units before rising to overall head of the finance department. She joined what is now the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic as a deputy governor in January 2011, before being named governor in June that year.

Asankojoeva was the first female governor of the National Bank, and one of only a handful of female central bank governors worldwide. Statistics compiled by Central Banking show her departure reduces the total number of female governors worldwide to just 17 of 177 central banks.

She said the Kyrgyz Republic had always expected the same of men and women – except that women had to look after children and their homes in addition to other duties.

"Kyrgyz women were always free, studied, worked and achieved success in all areas on the same level as men," she said. "However, the eastern mentality obliges with all that to also carry women's responsibilities of keeping hearth and home, and raising children."

"This is probably the main difficulty – to have sufficient time to be everywhere."