Israel cabinet approves ex-Fed economist to second central bank policy committee term

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, June 15 (Reuters) - Israel's cabinet approved the appointment of Naomi Feldman for a second term on the Bank of Israel's monetary policy committee, the central bank said on Monday.

Feldman, who was nominated by a special search committee, will resume voting on interest rate decisions at the upcoming policy meeting on July 5.

Her first four-year term began in October 2021 and expired after the October 12 policy meeting, at the same time as the term of Zvi Hercowitz. Their departures left the MPC with four members from its full complement of six. The MPC has had only four voting members since November, with Ori Heffetz the only member not chosen by the Bank of Israel. According to the law, three MPC members are chosen by the Bank of Israel - currently Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron, his deputy Andrew Abir and research head Adi Brender - while three come from outside the bank as public representatives. Feldman, an associate economics professor at Hebrew University, was a senior economist at the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2011 to 2018 and a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers in the United States.

A source on the search committee told Reuters that it had also approved former Bank Leumi chief economist Gil Bufman to the MPC but it was not clear when the cabinet would vote on his nomination. Policymakers in May lowered the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%. Since then, Yaron has indicated rates could fall at a faster pace if inflation continues to ease.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Kate Mayberry)