Treasury’s chief economist moves to Bank of England
The British government’s chief economic adviser is moving to the Bank of England to serve on its top executive team as the central bank steers the UK’s financial system through the negotiations to leave the European Union.
Sir Dave Ramsden, who heads the Government Economic Service and leads the Treasury’s relationships with a wide range of external agencies, has been appointed as the BoE’s deputy governor of markets and banking. He takes up the post on 4 September.
“I am honoured to be joining the bank and to be given the opportunity to contribute to the bank’s mission to maintain monetary and financial stability at such an important time for the UK economy,” he said.
Sir Dave will have specific responsibility for managing the central bank’s balance sheet, which involves the execution of decisions on monetary policy and financial stability, management of foreign exchange reserves, and provision of gold custody services.
It also includes oversight of the bank’s Real Time Gross Settlements system, which settles payments between banks averaging £500bn per day and is currently being upgraded to provide new features and capabilities.
He will be a member of the key Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which sets interest rates, as well as the Financial Policy Committee, the Prudential Regulation Committee and the Bank of England’s Court of Directors.
Announcing the appointment, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said: “Sir Dave’s unrivalled experience at the centre of UK economic policy for more than two decades gives him the thorough grounding needed to be successful in his new role.”
Sir Dave has been the government’s observer on the MPC since before the financial crisis, has attended more of its policy meetings than its other current serving members, and has even been involved in appointing some of them, Reuters reported.
A career civil servant who joined the Treasury in 1988, he led its detailed preparatory work on whether the UK should join the Euro – giving then-chancellor Gordon Brown the ammunition to resist Tony Blair’s attempts to take the UK into the monetary union. Ramsden was awarded the CBE in 2015.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney said: “As an outstanding public servant, he will bring a wealth of experience and economic expertise to the Bank’s policy committee.”
Sir Dave replaces Charlotte Hogg, who in March resigned as the central bank’s deputy governor and chief operating officer after failing to declare that her brother worked for Barclays in a senior strategy role.
The COO position has been taken by Joanna Place, who was previously the bank’s executive director of human resources, and has filled the role in an acting capacity since May.
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See also:
UK union chief warns that civil servants lack resources to tackle Brexit
UK government allocates over £400m to key Brexit departments
About Liz Heron
Liz Heron is a journalist based in London. She worked on daily newspapers for more than 16 years as an education correspondent, section editor and general news reporter. She was Education Editor of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and has contributed to a wide range of British media including The Independent, The Guardian and the BBC.
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