The Bank of England will have more women on its rate-setting committee than ever before after appointing senior official Sarah Breeden as its deputy governor.
(Bloomberg) — The Bank of England will have more women on its rate-setting committee than ever before after appointing senior official Sarah Breeden as its deputy governor.
Breeden — currently executive director for financial stability strategy and risk — will succeed Jon Cunliffe as deputy governor for financial stability on Nov. 1, meaning she will not be present for the BOE’s next rates decision on Thursday. Her five-year term will begin a day before the Monetary Policy Committee’s November rates announcement.
She will be the only female deputy governor and the fourth woman on the current Monetary Policy Committee, which also includes Megan Greene, Swati Dhingra and Catherine Mann. Bloomberg reported last month that Breeden was a frontrunner for the role.
The appointment, which is made by the Treasury, will temper long-running criticism over a lack of diversity at the central bank. The Governor and all of his four deputy governor are all currently male. However, the BOE has had other female deputy governors since it gained independence, including Charlotte Hogg, Minouche Shafik and Rachel Lomax.
“I am pleased to appoint Sarah Breeden as the next Deputy Governor of the Bank of England who brings extensive experience to the role including from her work as a member of the Financial Policy Committee and across monetary, economic and financial matters,” said Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt.
Little is known about her views on interest rates. However, she warned earlier this year that “tightening monetary policy after a long period of very low rates has the potential to reveal further financial vulnerabilities.”
“While we don’t yet know how long higher interest rates will persist, it’s clear that the FPC will need to continue to be alive to potential financial stability consequences,” Breeden said in a speech in March.
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