Bank of Canada names economics professor to governing council

By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Bank of Canada said on Monday it has appointed a professor of applied economics at HEC Montreal to be a non-executive deputy governor and the sixth member of its policy-setting governing council for a two-year term, starting in March.

Nicolas Vincent was named to take on its fourth deputy governor role, the bank said in a statement published on its website, filling the post vacated when Timothy Lane retired in September.

In August, the bank said it would seek an external candidate for the revamped post in order to find “fresh and diverse perspectives.” It said the new deputy governor would work part time, or 50-70% of full-time hours.

On Monday, the bank said that Vincent will “maintain his affiliation with HEC Montreal.”

Vincent is also co-chair of the Business Cycles and Financial Markets research theme at CIRANO (Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche en Analyse des Organisations), and has been a visiting faculty member and researcher at Columbia Business School, INSEAD, the Banque de France and the Kellogg School of Management.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem called Vincent “an accomplished scholar and teacher with deep expertise in macro and microeconomic research.”

“I have no doubt that his broad knowledge of monetary economics combined with his keen interest in public policy will be invaluable in helping the Bank navigate the policy challenges ahead,” Macklem said in the statement.

Adding an external voice to the governing council comes as the central bank faces rising public criticism after it misjudged inflation and was seen as having acted too slowly to respond to fast-rising prices, forcing it to hike interest rates sharply.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; additional reporting by Ismail Shakil; Editing by Leslie Adler)