Employees of the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) received a 10 percent wage hike for 2009, the central bank said on Thursday.

At a media conference following the release of the SARB's Annual Report and September Quarterly Bulletin, SARB director Francois van der Merwe said it was important for the central bank to have "the best available staff".

"To a large extent market trends dictate remuneration," he told the briefing while confirming the 10 percent hike — which was above the country's three to six percent inflation target.

The SARB's governor Tito Mboweni received a pay hike of just over 14 percent.

In 2009 his annual pay stood at R4.334-million from R3.796-million the previous year.

Deputy governor Xolile Guma and deputy governor Renosi Mokate also received pay increases.

While Guma was given an increase of 6.05 percent, Mokate received a salary hike of 7.1 percent.