Neil Quigley new Chair of Reserve Bank Board

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Professor Neil Quigley has been elected Chair of the Reserve Bank's Board of Directors, replacing Dr Rod Carr. Ms Kerrin Vautier has been appointed as Deputy Chair.

Reserve Bank Directors are appointed by the Minister of Finance for five-year renewable terms, and they elect their Chair from among their numbers for one-year terms. The Chair appoints a Deputy Chair for a one-year term.

Dr Carr said that he had advised the Board some months ago that he would not be seeking a further term as a Director of the Reserve Bank when his present term ends in July 2017. In light of that decision he had decided to step down as Chair.

Professor Quigley’s term as Chair is effective from 23 September 2016. Professor Quigley is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waikato, and has previously held roles as a Professor of Economics and senior manager at Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He was first appointed to the Reserve Bank Board in 2010. He is also a Director of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

Ms Vautier’s term is effective from 26 September 2016. Ms Vautier is a consulting research economist and a Lay Member of the High Court (under the Commerce Act). She was first appointed to the Reserve Bank Board in 2010.

When Dr Carr’s term ends as a Director, this will end a 10-year relationship with the Bank. Between July 1998 and July 2003, he was Deputy Governor and then Acting Governor of the Bank. In these positions he also served as a Director of the Bank until September 2002, since when Deputy Governors have no longer been Directors of the Bank. Dr Carr was appointed to the Board in 2012, and was first appointed Chair in September 2013.

Governor Graeme Wheeler paid tribute to Dr Carr’s contribution. “Rod has provided over a decade of invaluable service to the Bank, spanning key management and governance roles. He has been an outstanding Chairman and the Bank has benefited greatly from his intellectual rigour and sound advice and judgment.”

The Board's primary function is to monitor the performance of the Governor and the Bank on behalf of the Minister of Finance. It has the responsibility of assessing whether the quarterly Monetary Policy Statements are consistent with the Policy Targets Agreement between the Minister and the Bank, and it monitors the Bank's six-monthly Financial Stability Reports.