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The Bank of Canada has appointed long-time insider Toni Gravelle as one of its deputy governors, filling the vacancy created over the summer by the retirement of Lynn Patterson.

He joins the bank’s powerful Governing Council, the body headed by Governor Stephen Poloz that presides over Canadian monetary policy and the setting of interest rates. The council consists of Mr. Poloz, senior deputy governor Carolyn Wilkins, and four deputy governors (the other three are Timothy Lane, Lawrence Schembri and Paul Beaudry).

The bank said that in his new role, Mr. Gravelle will share duties with Mr. Beaudry in overseeing the bank’s financial system activities – the same role that Ms. Patterson had on the Governing Council.

Mr. Gravelle, 55, has been with the Bank of Canada for most of the past 23 years, having joined the central bank in 1996 after earning his PhD in economics from the University of Western Ontario that same year. He has spent the past four years as head of the bank’s Financial Markets Department.

Outside of the bank, Mr. Gravelle served stints at the International Monetary Fund (2002-05) and the federal Department of Finance (2013-15).

“He is a versatile, thoughtful and experienced leader who is already well known in Canada’s financial markets,” Mr. Poloz said in a statement. “His deep knowledge of markets, proven leadership skills and capacity for innovative thinking will make an invaluable contribution to our conduct of monetary policy and promotion of financial stability.”

Mr. Gravelle joins the Governing Council at a key moment for interest-rate policy, as central banks globally wrestle with the uncertainties surrounding the U.S.-China trade war and with a slowing global economy. Many other central banks have cut interest rates in recent months, including the Bank of Canada’s U.S. counterpart, the Federal Reserve, which this week cut its key rate for the second time since the summer began. The Bank of Canada has so far resisted cuts, citing a relatively strong Canadian economy and steady inflation near its 2-per-cent target. Its next rate decision, in which Mr. Gravelle will participate, is scheduled for Oct. 30.

The Bank of Canada also announced that it appointed Bay Street veteran Mark Hardisty as a special adviser to the Governor, for a two-year term beginning Nov. 6. Mr. Hardisty has spent the past 25 years working in capital markets, most recently as managing director and global head of debt syndication at CIBC World Markets in Toronto.

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