New head for ECB’s Irish mission

The ECB is to appoint Diego Rodriguez-Palenzuela as its lead official in the troika’s talks with Ireland.

Mr Rodriguez-Palenzuela, who is currently head of the Frankfurt-based central bank’s capital markets division, will take over as the ECB’s head of mission to Ireland from current troika representative Klaus Masuch after the end of the next review mission, which is due to start on Monday.

“Rodriguez-Palenzuela will take over at some point after the review is completed,” said ECB spokesman William Lelieveldt.

Mr Masuch will continue to represent the ECB in troika talks with Greece, he said.

The troika consists of the ECB, the IMF, and the European Commission.

It makes quarterly reviews of the three eurozone nations receiving international bailouts: Ireland, Greece, and Portugal.

Mr Rodriguez-Palenzuela has been working in the ECB since 1999.

Before joining the ECB he was an assistant professor in the business and economics department at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.

He also worked as a researcher in the Foundation for Applied Economic Research, Madrid.

He was awarded a PhD in economics from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Bloomberg