(profile) BOK chief nominee known for expertise on economic theory, financial policy

All News 14:48 March 23, 2022

SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in's nominee for new central bank chief is known for having a deep understanding of financial markets and policymaking he has accumulated in academic, government and international bodies.

Rhee Chang-yong, director of the Asia and Pacific department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was nominated as new chief of the Bank of Korea (BOK) to replace Lee Ju-yeol, who is to leave office later this month.

Born in 1960, Rhee majored in economics at Seoul National University, South Korea's most prestigious school, and received a PhD on economics at Harvard University in 1989.

Rhee also worked at the Word Bank in 1992 as a researcher before teaching students at home and abroad for years. He became an economics professor at his alma mater in 2003.

He worked as a member of a presidential economic council committee in 2004 and then joined the transition team of President Lee Myung-bak in 2007, helping map out economic policy for the conservative government.

From 2008-09, he experienced government policymaking as deputy chief of the Financial Services Commission, the country's top financial regulatory.

He also spent three years from 2011 as chief economist at Asian Development Bank before moving to the IMF in 2014 as director of its Asia and Pacific department, the highest post a South Korean has risen at the Washington-based lender.

He is known to have a keen interest in macroeconomics, finance and capital markets based on his experiences from such previous posts in academia, global institutions and the government.

His appointment comes as the central bank is grappling with rising inflation pressure driven by global supply disruptions and rising demand from consumption recovery from the pandemic.

The BOK has raised its key interest rate three times including the latest 0.25 percentage point rise in January, after borrowing costs were kept at record lows for about two years to shore up the pandemic-hit economy.

Incumbent Gov. Lee has called for more hikes to rein in inflation, but concerns linger that steep rate increases could deepen the financial burden on indebted people and slow down economic recovery.