The cabinet is scheduled to vote Sunday on the nomination of Amir Yaron for Bank of Israel governor, the Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday, haaretz.com reports.
Israeli-born Yaron, 54, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who has lived in the United States for two decades, was chosen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month. He would succeed Karnit Flug, whose five-year term concluded earlier this week. Deputy Bank of Israel Governor Nadine Baudot-Trajtenberg has assumed duties as acting governor.
Yaron last week cleared a key hurdle by receiving approval from a special government vetting committee, which said it did not find any flaws with Yaron’s character.
The cabinet is expected to approve the nomination, making him governor at a pivotal time for Israel’s economy. With inflation now inside the government’s target, policymakers are forecast to start raising interest rates sometime in the first quarter of 2019.