Australia has appointed the country’s first female central bank governor, bypassing the existing governor in order to elevate his deputy to the high-profile position despite public outrage over rapidly rising interest rates.
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Abbott announced on Friday that Michele Bullock would lead the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) for the next seven years, after Governor Philip Lowe declined a second term.
Lowe’s 43-year tenure at the bank will come to an end on September 17. Lowe’s decision comes as Chalmers prepares to attend a Group of 20 conference in India next week.
In a news conference, Chalmers stated that it was not unusual for a governor to serve only one term, and that Bullock was best suited to lead the RBA through the upcoming reorganization.
The government has been pressed to fire Lowe for encouraging people to borrow during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 by claiming interest rates would not rise until 2024, only to begin climbing two years earlier in mid-2022.
