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Itongadol.- Former Central Bank of Argentina president Mario Blejer is the leading candidate among four whom Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering nominating for Bank of Israel governor, Channel 2 reported on Thursday night.
Netanyahu is also considering former BoI deputy governor Zvi Eckstein, former Finance Ministry director and Bank Mizrahi CEO Victor Medina, and current Finance Ministry accountant- general Michal Abadi- Boiangiu, according to the report.
Whoever Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid pick will be the third choice to replace Stanley Fischer, who stepped down in June. The first two nominees – former governor Jacob Frenkel and Bank Hapoalim chief economist Leo Leiderman – each withdrew their candidacy in response to scandals.
The list, though perhaps not final, would be submitted to the Turkel Committee, which is responsible for approving candidates for the position, Channel 2 reported.
Blejer, 65, who is Jewish, earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and went on to complete his doctorate at the University of Chicago.
He led Argentina’s central bank during the depth of its financial crisis in 2002, but stayed on for only five months, after which he resigned due to clashes with the government.
He went on to serve as an adviser at the Bank of England.