The head of economic research at South Africa’s central bank is taking early retirement from the institution, reducing the number of voting members on the monetary policy committee.

Chris Loewald, who joined the South African Reserve Bank in 2011 after working for more than a decade at the National Treasury, will step down effective March 1, the central bank said in a statement on Friday.

“The process of appointing his successor is currently under way,” the bank said.

Loewald’s exit will leave the MPC with five members including Governor Lesetja Kganyago, who will hold the deciding vote in the event of a tie on monetary-policy decisions until a new member of the committee is appointed. The MPC delivered its first interest-rate decision of the year on Thursday, when it held the benchmark policy rate at 6.75%.

Loewald headed the bank’s economic research department, overseeing forecasting, global economic analysis and the publication of the Monetary Policy Review.