Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has appointed John Panonetsa Mangudya, the CEO of CBZ Holdings Ltd – the country’s largest banking group by assets, as the new governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Mangudya, an economist who worked with the central bank for 10 years until 1996 will take over from outgoing central bank governor, Gideon Gono as the Bank’s chief on May 1st, begining a five-year tenure.

On assuming the post, the onus will fall on Mangudya, who has served as the President of Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe, to help revive  Zimbabwea’s ailing economy.

Zimbabwe has been riddled by hyper-inflation, with acute shortages of foreign currency and basic goods which shot inflation rate to about 500-billion percent in 2008.

In 2009, the southern African country ditched its local currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, in favour of multiple foreign currencies, including the dollar and South African rand, leaving the RBZ unable to set interest rates or bail out troubled banks.

During Gono’s tenure, the printing press was put into overdrive to keep pace with hyper-inflation. Another bout of liquidity crunch late last year further slowed business activities while some factories closed shop entirely.

However, the Central Bank is poised to establish an inter-bank market for the first time in five years.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim) has also provided $100 million loan for the RBZ on Saturday to set up the market, which allows the central bank to set an overnight accommodation interest rate that would act as the benchmark for market rates. The inter-bank market will also allow debt-ridden banks to borrow from more solvent ones.

The facility would make it easier for small or micro companies to get loans from banks at reasonable costs, Afreximbank president Jean-Louis Ekra said.

51-year old Mangudya, who has a Doctorate in Business Administration from Washington International University, had worked with the African Export- Import Bank (Afreximbank) as regional manager for southern African region after his 10 years stint with the central bank in 1996.

While announcing Mangudya’s appointment, Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa described him as a “Keynesian economist who believes in discretionary fiscal and monetary policies.”

Meanwhile, Charity Dhliwayo, the acting governor, will retain her position as deputy until her term expires in April 2017, Chinamasa said.