Bank of Canada's deputy Wilkins, passed over for top job, to leave bank next year
By Steve Scherer
OTTAWA, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The senior deputy governor at the Bank of Canada will not seek a second term, the bank announced on Thursday. She was passed over for the top job earlier this year.
Carolyn Wilkins took over the No. 2 spot at the bank in 2014 and former Governor Stephen Poloz had praised her crisis management abilities before he retired earlier this year. But the government instead chose Tiff Macklem to fill Poloz's role.
Wilkins has led the bank's first ever quantitative easing program, which was created after rates were slashed to 0.25% amid the pandemic. Her seven-year term expires in May.
"She steered a lot of the hard work behind the scenes in terms of forecasts and the roll-out of the bank's unprecedented stimulus, so she will be missed and tough to replace," said Derek Holt, vice president of capital markets economics at Scotiabank.
Macklem, who took over as governor in May, was also a senior deputy governor with ambitions for the top spot when he was passed over in favor of Poloz in 2013.
Macklem then left the bank in 2014 and became dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto until he was named governor.
Bank of Canada's board of directors said it had begun the process of selecting Wilkins' successor.
"Building and carrying out a shared vision for the Bank with Governor Poloz has been a professional highlight," Wilkins said in the statement. "I've also enjoyed working closely again with Governor Macklem. The Bank is in good hands."
(Reporting by Steve Scherer, additional reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto, Editing by Franklin Paul and Cynthia Osterman)
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