Thórarinn G. Pétursson appointed as Chief Economist of the Central Bank of Iceland
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland has appointed Thórarinn G. Pétursson as the Chief Economist of the Central Bank of Iceland following an evaluation process by a specially appointed committee. The Chief Economist is also the Director of the Economics Department of the Central Bank of Iceland. The Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Iceland has also confirmed the Governor's proposal that Mr. Pétursson continues to be a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Iceland.
Four applications for the Chief Economist position were received and evaluated by a committee consisting of Már Gudmundsson, the Governor of the Central Bank, Arnór Sighvatsson, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Gunnar Haraldsson, Director of the Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland, and Professor Fridrik M. Baldursson from Reykjavík University. Of the four applicants, three were invited for an interview. It was the unanimous view of the committee that Mr. Pétursson was the most qualified candidate for the position.
Mr. Pétursson has been the Acting Chief Economist of the Bank since the end of February this year and became at the same time a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee. He began his career at the Bank as an economist at the Economics Department in January 1994, but has served as the Deputy Chief Economist and the Head of Research and Forecasting at the Bank from June 2004.
Mr. Pétursson has a Cand.Oecon degree in economics from the University of Iceland in 1991, a masters degree in economics from the University of Essex in the UK in 1992, and a PhD degree in economics from Aarhus University in Denmark in 1998. He has published numerous articles in domestic and international academic journals on monetary policy and macroeconomics. also In addition, he has a long career as a university lecturer in economics.
No. 29/2009
September 15, 2009