In its 2025 Central Bank Governors' Report Card, Global Finance magazine has announced the list of central bank governors achieving the highest ratings of "A+", "A", or "A-".

Three governors received the top "A+" rating: US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Governor of Denmark's central bank Christian Kettel Thomsen, and Nguyen Thi Hong.

9 other governors received an "A" rating in 2025. They represent the central banks of Chile, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, and Sri Lanka.

Published annually since 1994, the Global Finance report card ranks the governors of nearly 100 countries, territories, and key economic regions.

Last year, Hong was one of 7 governors to receive an "A" rating from Global Finance. In 2023, she also received an A+ rating for successfully managing inflation, achieving economic growth targets, stabilizing exchange rates, and managing interest rates.

Nguyen Thi Hong, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam. Photo: SBV

Nguyen Thi Hong, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam. Photo: SBV

Governors are graded on a scale from "A+" to "F" based on their success in areas such as inflation control, achieving economic growth targets, currency stability, and interest rate management. "A+" represents excellent performance, descending to "F" which indicates complete failure.

Joseph Giarraputo, founder and editorial director of Global Finance, explained that the report recognizes leaders not only for their results but also for their independence, discipline, and strategic vision.

Scores reflect not only pure economic performance, but also monetary policies appropriate to each central bank's context and mission. The scoring formula considers monetary policy, financial system oversight, asset purchase/sale programs, forecasting and guidance, transparency, the degree of political independence, and success in fulfilling the national mission (which varies from country to country).

Quynh Trang