Brevan Howard economist to join MPC

Before moving to the private sector he worked at the Bank of England for seven years, where he became economic assistant to the Governor, Lord Mervyn King.

The United Kingdom government Tuesday named Gertjan Vlieghe, an economist at Brevan Howard Asset Management, to sit on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.

His appointment comes at a time of growing speculation surrounding interest rate rises.

In May, Brevan Howard and other financial institutions came under scrutiny after European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure gave a speech to an invitation-only dinner of fund managers, bankers and academics in London. He added that rates will increase slowly from the current 0.5 per cent to around 2.25 per cent.

Vlieghe will be appointed for an initial three-year term which will take effect from September 1.

Dr. Vlieghe’s term was due to run for three years.

Carney, whose own tenure at the Bank began in July 2013 and will end in June 2018, welcomed Vlieghe to the committee. BOE Governor Mark Carney endorsed that view, saying his “insight, judgment and perspective will be invaluable to the committee in the coming years”.

Osborne has previously faced criticism for failing to appoint women to the policy committee and the Treasury said upon announcing Vlieghe’s appointment that it received 26 applications for the position, of which six were from women.

Vlieghe will be one of four so-called external members of the MPC who serve in a part-time capacity.

As an external member of the committee, Vlieghe will hold one of the nine votes at the MPC’s monthly meetings which decide the future path of UK monetary policy.