Gabriel Makhlouf Explained

Gabriel Makhlouf
Office:Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland
Taoiseach:Leo Varadkar
Micheál Martin
Simon Harris
Term Start:1 September 2019
Predecessor:Philip R. Lane (Permanent)
Sharon Donnery (Acting)
Office2:New Zealand Treasury Secretary and Chief Executive
Term Start2:June 2011
Term End2:June 2019
Predecessor2:John Whitehead
Successor2:Caralee McLiesh
Birth Date:1960
Birth Place:Egypt
Nationality:British

Gabriel Makhlouf is a British public servant and policymaker who has served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland since September 2019.[1] He was previously Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury and Private Secretary to then British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.[2]

He was appointed to the Central Bank after an open international competition led to him being the only name put forward to the Government of Ireland for appointment.[3] However, his appointment has not been uncontroversial due to an incident in New Zealand when he claimed the disclosure of sensitive information was the result of a deliberate hack, when the information had actually been disclosed accidentally.[3] In July 2019, The Irish Times reported that the European Central Bank had raised concerns with the Irish government about Makhlouf. These reportedly included that he was not an economist and that he is a British citizen.[4]

Gabriel Makhlouf was born in Egypt to a Cypriot-British father and Greek-Armenian mother.[5]

Notes

  1. Web site: Our Senior Team – Bios . Central Bank of Ireland . 16 November 2019.
  2. News: . Who is Gabriel Makhlouf, Central Bank governor in waiting? . 27 June 2019 . 16 November 2019.
  3. News: The Telegraph . The only Briton at the ECB table: Who is Gabriel Makhlouf, the new governor of the Irish Central Bank? . Harriet Russell . 2 September 2019 . 16 November 2019.
  4. News: ECB raised concerns over new Central Bank of Ireland boss . Fiach Kelly . 29 July 2019 . The Irish Times. 16 November 2019.
  5. News: Ireland’s central banker warns on homes spending spree. subscription. Financial Times. 1 March 2020. 2 March 2020.