Former Minister replaces Governor

The Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, Michael C. Bonello, has written to the Prime Minister to inform him of his wish to resign from his post as from the end of June.

In his letter, while thanking the Prime Minister and  the Government for the trust placed in him, Bonello recalled that when he accepted  the Prime Minister's offer of another term as Governor in 2008, he had indicated his willingness to oversee the transition of the euro to its completion, but not necessarily to complete the full five-year term.

The Prime Minister accepted Bonello's resignation and thanked him on behalf of the Government for his valuable contribution.

Bonello was a promoter of sustainable spending and welfare systems, and often complained of the way political expediency was prized over and above economic priorities.

His successor is a former Nationalist minister, Josef Bonnici.

Bonello was first appointed Governor in 1999, and since then he was actively involved in the transition to the euro, the accession of the Central Bank of Malta to the Eurosystem, and the restructuring of the Bank to meet these new responsibilities.  Since 2008 Mr Bonello has been a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.

The Prime Minister will be advising the President of Malta to appoint Professor Josef Bonnici as the new Governor as from 1st July 2011.

Professor Josef Bonnici is currently a Director of the Central Bank of Malta, professor of Economics and head of department at the University of Malta, focusing primarily on Monetary Economics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics.

Bonnici graduated in Economics from the University of Malta, and read for his Masters and PhD from Simon Fraser University, Canada specialising in the areas of Monetary Economics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics.

He returned to Malta in 1988 as an advisor to the Prime Minister on economic affairs. Subsequently he became active in the political field and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in Finance (1993-1995) and Minister for Economic Services in two legislatures (1995-1996, 1998-2003). His portfolio of responsibilities included that of economic development policy.

His last appointment was that of a Member of the European Court of Auditors.