South Africa’s central bank chief has warned counterparts in the world’s largest economies that their authority to set interest rates independent of political influence was under threat from rightwing populism.

Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the South African Reserve Bank, said institutions such as central banks were increasingly becoming the target of attacks, as democracies shifted to the right of the political spectrum.

“It used to be that the concern was about leftwing populism. But what the world’s now facing is rightwing populism,” he told the Financial Times from the G20 finance meetings in Cape Town, which he co-chaired. “And there’s one thing populists always do, which is to attack institutions.”