Central Bank appoints former ECB expert as its chief economist

The Central Bank yesterday announced a new chief economist, Gabriel Fagan, who will take up the role in October having left the ECB.

Central Bank deputy governor Stefan Gerlach welcomed the move. “Gabriel brings a significant level of experience and expertise to the role and I look forward to working closely with him,” Mr Gerlach said.

Mr Fagan, who holds degrees in economics from University College Dublin and Trinity, previously worked at the Central Bank until 1992.

He replaces Lars Frisell who left the Central Bank after less than two years in the post to join the IMF’s Africa training institute in Mauritius.

In taking his decision to leave, Mr Frisell became the latest senior ranking official to leave the bank in a short space of time, following Matthew Elderfield who announced in April 2013 that he was to step down as head of financial regulation and return to London.

The bank’s third-highest official, director of credit institutions Fiona Muldoon, announced her departure last November and left in May.

Mr Fagan has held a number of roles with the ECB, including most recently that of senior adviser in the directorate-general research since 2011. He also headed up the monetary policy econometric modelling divisions at the bank.

The role of chief economist, as advertised, includes responsibility for presenting the “Central Bank’s views on economics and financial issues” to government agencies, and undertaking economic and monetary policy analysis and research.