MNI: BOC Promotes Sharon Kozicki to Deputy Governor

The Bank of Canada promoted adviser Sharon Kozicki to the panel that sets the current 0.25% policy interest rate, expanding the Governing Council to seven from six later this year to enhance the group's diversity.

Kozicki becomes a deputy governor effective Aug. 2. The departure of former deputy governor Carolyn Wilkins in December had left the top policy group with no females or visible minorities even as BOC Governor Tiff Macklem stressed the need for an inclusive economic rebound. Carolyn Rogers was named senior deputy governor earlier this month, and she will start that role in December after returning from a job in Europe with the BIS.

The BOC also said that the temporary expansion of the rate-setting panel will help prepare for any potential future retirements from that group.

Sources told MNI earlier this year Kozicki was a likely candidate to join the Governing Council given her experience at the BOC and the need to catch up with other central banks on diversity. A native of Ottawa, Kozicki has advised governors since 2013 and helped oversee the last renewal of the 2% inflation target in 2016. She holds a PhD from the University of California San Diego and before joining the BOC in 2006 worked at the Fed Board of Governors and the Kansas City Fed as an economist.

Her long career inside the Bank suggests Kozicki may not seek a big overhaul of the BOC's current policies of low interest rates and a move to dial back QE purchases. The BOC also works by consensus and doesn't publish individual votes, meaning her new influence will be hard to assess.

"Her intellect and expertise will make an important contribution to our Governing Council deliberations and help ensure we take decisions based on diverse perspectives to fulfil the Bank's mandate now, and in the future," Macklem said in a statement.