Minister for Finance nominates Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland to ECB Executive Board

30th January, 2018

The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, today informed the Government of his decision to nominate Professor Philip Lane, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, to the position of Vice-President of the European Central Bank.

Professor Lane’s outstanding economic, financial and policy making record ideally position him to take a seat at the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. 

His appointment as Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) High-Level Task Force on Safe Assets last year, his previous position as chair of the ESRB Advisory Scientific Committee and his current position as chair of the ESRB Advisory Technical Committee, demonstrate the standing he is held in at European level. 

Minister Donohoe stated:

“I said that when and if Ireland puts forward a candidate to the ECB’s Executive Board, they will be an exceptionally well qualified person. There can be no doubt that Governor Lane is such a person of calibre and recognised standing.”

ENDS

 

Notes for Editors

1. At the Eurogroup meeting of Eurozone Finance Ministers on 22 January, the Eurogroup President initiated the procedure for the appointment of a new Vice-President of the European Central Bank with a call for candidacies. The term of the incumbent, Vítor Constâncio, ends on 31 May 2018. Other board member appointment do not arise until 2019. With regard to the position of Vice President, the Eurogroup will agree on a candidate on 19 February and ECOFIN will adopt a formal recommendation to the European Council on 20 February. The European Parliament and European Central Bank will then deliver opinions on the recommendation with the appointment scheduled to be agreed at the European Council on 22 March. The new Vice President will take up their post on 1 June 2018.

 

2. Biography of Philip Lane

Philip R. Lane is Whately Professor of Political Economy at Trinity College Dublin. He is Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and sits on the ECB Governing Council. He is Chair of the High-Level Task Force on Safe Assets of the European Systemic Risk Board; he is an ex-officio member of the General Board and steering committee of the ESRB.  He is also Director of the International Macroeconomics and Finance Programme at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

He received his PhD in Economics from Harvard in 1995 and was Assistant Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Columbia University during 1995-1997 before returning to Dublin.

His research interests include financial globalisation, macroeconomics of exchange rates and capital flows, macroeconomic policy design and European monetary integration.  His work has been published in the American Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Journal of International Economics, NBER Macroeconomics Annual and many other journals.

In 2001, he was the inaugural recipient of the German Bernacer Award in Monetary Economics for outstanding contributions to European monetary economics; in 2010, he was co-recipient of the Bhagwati Prize from the Journal of International Economics. He previously held the position of Chair of the ESRB Advisory Scientific Committee. He has also acted as an academic consultant for the European Central Bank, European Commission, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, OECD, Asian Development Bank and a number of national central banks. He is also a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

A more detailed biography of Professor Lane’s publications and achievements is available at www.philiplane.org