Chalmers aims to appoint new RBA deputy governor within a month

AUSTRALIAN Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he aims to appoint a new Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) deputy governor within a month.

“I’m hoping to announce the new deputy governor before the meeting of the Reserve Bank on Dec 5,” Chalmers told the Insiders show on ABC News on Sunday (Nov 5). “We have been interviewing a number of candidates from a shortlist, some internal some external, some from Australia some from overseas. We’ve got some more due diligence to do.”

The RBA has been without a deputy governor since Michele Bullock stepped up from that role to succeed Philip Lowe as governor in September. Currently, only the governor and deputy publicly discuss monetary policy, though more news briefings and speakers will be enabled next year as the central bank implements its first major revamp since the 1990s.

Chalmers said Bullock has been “deeply involved” in the appointment of a new deputy governor “because we need to make sure that the deputy is someone who can work closely with her”.

He also said he will be introducing the Reserve Bank review legislation in the last week of November, and that Bullock will initially chair the new governance board.

“I intend to legislate the governor chairing that new governance board, at least for the first five years until we review it and make sure it’s working as we intended,” he said. “We think, given that there is a big change management programme that we’re asking the Reserve Bank to do, that it is appropriate at least initially for the governor to chair the three boards – the payments board, the monetary policy board and the governance board.” BLOOMBERG