Regarded economist and business leader Melinda Cilento has been appointed to the Reserve Bank committee that sets official interest rates.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers this morning revealed that Cilento, currently the chief executive of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), would take the vacancy left by Ian Harper on the RBA’s monetary policy committee.
Cilento was selected from a shortlist compiled by the RBA, Treasury and Martin Parkinson, who is a former head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The government has also consulted the Coalition about the appointment.
Melinda Cilento, seen here last year, has joined the RBA committee that sets interest rates.Oscar Colman
Apart from her role with CEDA, Cilento has previously been a non-executive director of Woodside Petroleum, a commissioner with the Productivity Commission and the chief economist with the Business Council of Australia.
She has also held senior roles with the federal Treasury, the International Monetary Fund and Invesco Australia.
Her five-year appointment means there are now six women on the nine-member interest rate-setting committee, which is headed by governor Michele Bullock.