Julio Velarde Succeeds BoC Governor as Head of BIS Council for Americas

Julio Velarde, governor of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, has been tapped to lead a group of North and South American central bankers, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced on Monday.

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The BIS board of directors has appointed Mr. Velarde as chairman of the BIS Consultative Council for the Americas (CCA), which comprises the governors of the central banks in the region, including: Canada, the US, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

The CCA was established in 2008 to facilitate communication between the central banks that are based in the Americas and the BIS board and management.

Velarde will serve as head of the committee for two years, starting January 9. He succeeds Stephen Poloz, Governor of the Bank of Canada, who has chaired the group since 2011.

Mr. Velarde has a wide range of experience in the economic and financial world. He studied economics at the Universidad del Pacifico and is widely credited with helping Peru avoid deflation during the 2009 global economic crisis.

The 65-year-old central banker holds an MA and a PhD in economics from the Brown University. He held a variety of posts at BCRP, where he was appointed as the governor in 2006, ‎ part of a career spanning over 35 years.

BIS is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and acts as a coordinating body among central banks to ensure global monetary and financial stability. The BIS board comprises all central bankers including U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.