Finance Minister Nicola Willis said Williams would bring strong institutional knowledge to the committee.
She has held various roles in the Reserve Bank’s economics team since 2010, when she joined the bank after graduating from the University of Canterbury with a BCom (Hons) in Economics and a BA in History.
Reserve Bank chairman Rodger Finlay said Williams had “worked extensively in monetary policy and forecasting, including advising the Monetary Policy Committee on the current state of the New Zealand economy”.
“We look forward to working with Rebecca, whose many years of experience in economic analysis and forecasting, including leadership of analysts, will be a real asset to the committee,” Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman said.
“With her analytical capabilities alongside deep institutional knowledge, I know Rebecca will make a significant contribution to our work.”
When the Monetary Policy Committee next reviews the OCR on October 28, it will consist of: Breman, Silk, Williams, Paul Conway, Prasanna Gai, Carl Hansen and Hayley Gourley.
After this meeting, the committee will be down a member again, as assistant governor Karen Silk is due to depart in mid-December, five months before her five-year term on the committee ends.
Silk’s role will be split in two, so there will be assistant governors for both monetary policy, and payments and cash.
The Reserve Bank board will soon recommend who it believes the finance minister should appoint to the monetary policy role. This person will join the Monetary Policy Committee.
The committee is required to consist of four people who work at the Reserve Bank and three externals.
Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.
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