Governor Talks: Australia

Australia: An Australian Perspective on Current Monetary Policy Challenges

Speaker

Mr. Philip Lowe
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia

Philip Lowe is Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Mr Lowe holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.Comm (Honours) in Economics/Econometrics from the University of New South Wales. He has authored numerous papers, including on the linkages between monetary policy and financial stability. He commenced as Governor on 18 September 2016.

He is Chair of the Reserve Bank Board and Payments System Board, and Chair of the Council of Financial Regulators. He is a member of the Financial Stability Board. Prior to his current role, he held the positions of Deputy Governor, Assistant Governor (Economic) and Assistant Governor (Financial System). He also spent two years at the Bank for International Settlements working on financial stability issues.

Mr Lowe is Chair of the Financial Markets Foundation for Children and a director of The Anika Foundation. He is also Chair of the Committee on the Global Financial System of the Bank for International Settlements.

Mr Lowe is a signatory to The Banking and Finance Oath.

Education	The University of New South Wales (BComm Hons 1985) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD 1991)
1980–97	Reserve Bank of Australia; various positions in International Department and Economic Group
1997–98	Head of Economic Research Department
1999–2000	Head of Financial Stability Department
2000–02	Bank for International Settlements; Head of Financial Institutions and Infrastructure Division
2002–03	Head of Domestic Markets Department
2003–04	Head of Economic Analysis Department
2004–09	Assistant Governor (Financial System)
2009–12	Assistant Governor (Economic)
2012–16	Deputy Governor

Moderator

Mr. Changyong Rhee
Director of Asia and Pacific Department

Changyong Rhee is the Director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the IMF, where he oversees the Fund’s work on the region, including its lending operations and bilateral and multilateral surveillance of economies ranging from China, Japan, and India to the Pacific Islands.

Prior to joining the IMF in February 2014, Mr. Rhee was Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB); Secretary General and Sherpa of the Presidential Committee for the 2010 G-20 Seoul Summit; Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission of Korea; professor of economics at Seoul National University and the University of Rochester. He has also been a frequent policy advisor to the Government of Korea, including in the Office of the President, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Bank of Korea, the Korea Securities Depository, and the Korea Development Institute.

Mr. Rhee has published widely in the fields of macroeconomics, financial economics, and on the Korean economy. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and an undergraduate honors degree from Seoul National University, both in economics.