By Matt Kennard and Ajay Makan

If you feel sorry for Ben Bernanke (chairman of the US Federal Reserve), who is fast running out of options to save his country’s economy, spare a thought for Jihad Al-Wazir. Despite being governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, Al-Wazir has no control over interest rates or money supply.

In an interview with beyond brics in New York this week, we wondered what a central banker does without those fundamental powers?

Al-Wazir had an well-worn answer: “When people think of a central bank, they think that the only tool you have is interests rates, but really you have three.”

He has used the other two – reserve requirements for banks and liquidity management – to help Palestine achieve 9.5 per cent growth in 2010. (That is predicted to fall to 3.5 per cent this year as the region feels the fallout of the Arab Spring and the UN vote for statehood.)