–Adds Background Of Successor Josef Bonnici
VALETTA (MNI) – European Central Bank Governing Council member
Michael C. Bonello, who is governor of Malta’s central bank, will resign
from his post at the end of June, the Maltese government announced
Friday.
Malta’s Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will nominate Josef Bonnici,
a Maltese central bank director and professor of economics, to succeed
Bonello as of July 1, the government said in a statement.
According to the statement, Bonello had written to Gonzi to tender
his resignation, explaining that when he agreed to accept another term
as central bank governor in 2008, he had stated his willingness to
oversee completion of the country’s transition to the euro, but not
necessarily to serve the full five-year term.
Gonzi will nominate Bonnici as the new governor, but technically he
must be approved by the country’s president, George Abela.
In addition to serving as a director on the Maltese central bank’s
board, Bonnici is head of the economics department at the University of
Malta, where his academic focus is monetary affairs, macroeconomics and
econometrics. He earned his doctorate in monetary economics from Simon
Fraser University in Canada and holds an honorary degree in humanities
from Rikkyo University in Japan.
Bonnici will also take Bonello’s seat on the ECB’s Governing
Council.
[TOPICS: M$$EC$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$,MT$$$]