Itongadol.-Bank of Israel Acting Governor Karnit Flug has appointed Nathan Sussman, director of the bank’s research department, to replace Barry Topf on the monetary committee.
Topf is stepping down at the end of the month.
The appointment to one of the central bank’s three slots on the six-person committee, which is responsible for making interest-rate decisions, is expected to bring a sense of continuity to the committee.
Until Flug’s nomination on Sunday to become governor, she was expected to step down, and no replacement had been made to fill Topf’s role. Given the departure of former governor Stanley Fischer in June, which left the committee short one member, the entire representation from the bank was set to change in a short period of time.
Flug praised Sussman for his “wealth of experience to the monetary committee in both economic research and policy formulation, which will be an important contribution to the monetary committee’s decision-making process.”
Flug also thanked Topf for his years of service at the bank.
“Barry played an important role in formulating the Bank of Israel’s monetary policy during the financial crisis, which began in 2008, with an emphasis on the bank’s foreign-exchange policy during that challenging time,” she said. “Likewise, Barry made a marked contribution to the work of the Bank of Israel’s monetary committee, of which he was a member since its establishment in 2011.