Former Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer was last night sworn in as a member of the US Federal Reserve's board of governors. He must wait for Senate approval before he can be officially appointed the Fed's vice-chair and number 2 to chair Janet Yellen. No date has yet been set for the Senate vote.
Once appointed, Fischer will take an active role in the US central bank's reduction in quantitative easing, which has included zero percent interest rates for the past six years, and government bond purchases amounting to $3 trillion in order to inject liquidity into the market.
Fischer, 70, is a dual US-Israeli national. He served as Governor of the Bank of Israel from 2005 until 2013. Fischer was previously Deputy Chairman of the International Monetary Fund and VP Citigroup. As a Professor at MIT he taught both Ben Bernanke, the predecessor of Yellen as the Fed chairman, and European Central Bank head Mario Draghi.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 29, 2014
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