Bank of Canada Council Adds Western Grad With Gravelle Promotion

(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of Canada has selected a new deputy governor, filling the final spot in the policy-making body responsible for setting the key interest rate in the country.

Toni Gravelle will join the governing council Oct. 1, according to a release issued Thursday by the Ottawa-based central bank. The appointment fills a vacancy left by the departure of former Deputy Governor Lynn Patterson, and completes the six-person committee that directs monetary policy in Canada.

Gravelle, who holds a PhD in economics from Western University in London, Ontario, joined the Bank of Canada in 1996 and has been working as managing director of the financial markets department. He also worked for Canada’s finance department and the International Monetary Fund as an economist.

“We are delighted to welcome Toni Gravelle to Governing Council. He is a versatile, thoughtful and experienced leader who is already well-known in Canada’s financial markets,” Governor Stephen Poloz said in the release.

With Gravelle’s appointment, four of the six members of the governing council are graduates of Western, including Poloz, Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins, and Deputy Governor Tim Lane.

The Bank of Canada has held interest rates steady at 1.75% since fall of 2018, even as other central banks have begun easing monetary policy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Hertzberg in Ottawa at eschmitzhert@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, David Scanlan

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