Itongadol.- With a month to go before Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer steps down, sources say his deputy and a former government economic adviser the top two candidates.
Sources in the prime minister\’s office said a decision is expected in about a week and will likely be either Deputy Governor Karnit Flug or Manuel Trajtenberg, who used to head the National Economic Council.
The decision will be a joint one between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid. Government sources said Lapid is pushing for Trajtenberg since he was tasked with addressing the mass protests against the high cost of living in 2011.
Fischer is lobbying hard for Flug, while Netanyahu is undecided after recently meeting both of candidates, sources said.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, meanwhile, reported on Wednesday that Northwestern University economics professor and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Martin Eichenbaum was also a candidate.
The Prime Minister\’s office and Finance Ministry declined to comment publicly on any names or on the timing of a decision.
Following months of protests in mid-2011, Netanyahu appointed Trajtenberg to head a committee to come up with solutions to Israel\’s social and economic troubles. Some of the panel\’s recommendations, including providing free education from the age of three instead of five, were implemented.
Flug, who shares Fischer\’s views, became deputy governor of the Bank of Israel in July 2011 after heading the bank\’s research department.
In 2005, Netanyahu, who was then finance minister, appointed Fischer in a last-minute decision. During his term, Fischer – a world-reknowned economist – has raised Israel\’s economic profile globally and has been described as the country\’s "lone responsible adult" in pushing for responsible budget policies.
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