Surprise move
January 3, 2012
The European Central Bank (ECB) has named Peter Praet of Belgium as its new chief economist. The 62-year-old former head of the Belgian Central Bank "will be responsible for economics, human resources, budget and organization".
Peter Praet has been a member of the ECB's executive board since June 2011. He also worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the late 1970s and taught banking and monetary policy at Brussels Free University.
Praet, who spent the first 17 years of his life in Germany, will replace Jürgen Stark of Germany in the position of ECB chief economist. Stark resigned earlier this year, in protest at the ECB's policy of increased bond purchases of heavily indebted eurozone countries like Italy and Spain.
It's the first time the post has not been given to a German candidate.
Surprise candidate wins
The Belgian currency specialist has beaten off challenges from Germany's Jörg Assmussen, and France's Benoit Coeure. Assmussen had been German Chancellor Angela Merkel's favorite.
Coeure replaced Italian ECB board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi earlier this year, after pressure from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who demanded a post for his country in the ECB's executive.
In the ECB executive board reshuffle Assmussen has been assigned to the post of head of the bank's legal and international departments. Coeure will be responsible for financial market policy, including the coordination of the bank's sovereign debt purchasing program.
The naming of Peter Praet as the bank's new chief economist is widely seen as a surprise. The ECB board of directors has failed to explain its decision so far.
Author: Uwe Hessler (Reuters, AFP, dpa)
Editor: Nicole Goebel