38/02
24 April 2002
Chancellor announces new appointee to the Monetary Policy Committee
Marian Bell has been appointed to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the Chancellor Gordon Brown announced today.
Marian Bell is an economic consultant. Previously she was Head of Research at the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Treasury and Capital Markets division. Ms Bell will replace Dr Sushil Wadhwani, whose term expires on 31 May. She will take up her membership of the MPC on 1 June. However, due to prior commitments, she will attend her first committee meeting in July.
Gordon Brown said:
“I am delighted that Marian Bell has agreed to join the Monetary Policy Committee. Her extensive experience as a financial economist will enable her to make an invaluable contribution to the work of the Committee”.
“I would like to thank Sushil Wadhwani for his outstanding contribution to the MPC’s work over the past three years, and wish him well for the future”.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Ms Bell’s CV is attached.
2. The Chancellor announced the establishment of the MPC as part of the new framework for monetary policy on 6 May 1997.
3. Operational decisions on interest rate policy are made by the MPC. It comprises the Governor of the Bank of England, the two deputy Governors, two members of the Bank with responsibility in the Bank for monetary policy and market operations and four outside members with relevant expertise who are appointed by the Chancellor.
4. Members of the MPC are appointed to the Bank staff. However they may engage, with the permission of the Chancellor, in outside activities which do not present a conflict of interest.
5. Ms. Bell is one of the four external members appointed by the Chancellor. Under Section 13(4) of the Bank of England Act 1998, the Chancellor is required to appoint people who have "knowledge or experience which is likely to be relevant to the Committee's functions."
6. Dr Wadhwani was appointed to the MPC by the Chancellor on 1 June 1999. His term ends on 31 May 2002. An exchange of letters between the Chancellor and Dr Wadhwani are linked to below.
7. Media enquiries should be addressed to Steve Field, Treasury Press Office on 020 7270 5196 or Peter Rodgers at the Bank of England on 020 7601 4411.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Marian Bell
Education
BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Hertford College, Oxford.
MSc, Economics, Birkbeck College, London
Present positions
Consultant, Alpha Economics
Main previous appointments
Manager Treasury and Capital Markets Research Team, Royal Bank of Scotland. (1991-2000)
HM Treasury: Economic Adviser (1989-1991)
Senior Economist, Royal Bank of Scotland (1985-1989)
The letters are available below in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website.
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