Lubomír Lízal and Pavel Řežábek to be CNB Bank Board members
On 13 February 2011, economist Lubomír Lízal (41), who works at the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and at the CERGE economic institute at Charles University, will become a new member of the Bank Board of the Czech National Bank. Pavel Řežábek (50), who has been in a senior position at the CNB since 2005, will continue as a Bank Board member for a second term.
Czech President Václav Klaus appointed Lubomír Lízal and Pavel Řežábek as new Bank Board members for a six-year term on 8 February 2011 at Prague Castle. In the seven-member board, Lubomír Lízal will replace Robert Holman, whose six-year mandate expires on 12 February 2011. The Bank Board is the supreme governing body of the central bank and its main tasks include taking decisions on monetary policy and on measures in the financial market supervision area.
“I am aware that taking a senior post at the CNB is a commitment. The CNB is an institution that has built up a high level of trust among finance professionals and the public over its history. Maintaining price stability and financial sector stability is not only a necessary condition for the economic development of the Czech Republic, but a valuable asset in itself,” said Lubomír Lízal upon his appointment.
“I am honoured that – thanks in part to my contribution – the CNB has gained a reputation as a credible institution and has proven its stabilising role in Czech economic policy. We face many challenges going forward, not only in the area of fulfilling our statutory duties, but also in our efforts to ensure appropriate regulation and supervisory effectiveness in Europe,” said Pavel Řežábek.
Robert Holman stated, “I am glad to have had the opportunity to contribute to the work of such a prominent institution as the CNB over the last six years. I expect now to concentrate on work in the academic area, where I was active before joining the CNB.”
Lubomír Lízal and Pavel Řežábek will serve on the Bank Board as chief executive directors. The other board members are Governor Miroslav Singer, Vice-Governors Mojmír Hampl and Vladimír Tomšík and Chief Executive Directors Kamil Janáček and Eva Zamrazilová. All Bank Board members are appointed by the Czech president for a six-year term and none of them can hold the position more than twice.
Paver Řežábek oversees cash circulation, the payment system and the CNB’s network of seven branches. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Charles University, the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics and the International Relations Committee of the European Central Bank.
Lubomír Lízal has worked in recent years as an economic consultant for government offices. He gained top managerial experience in 2003–2008 as director of the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and CERGE at Charles University. In his research he specialises in the economics of transition, econometrics, applied microeconomics, market structures, corporate governance, competitiveness, monopolies and the relationship between economics and the environment.
Since 2010 Lubomír Lízal has been a member of the National Economic Council of the Government (NERV) and the supervisory board of energy company ČEZ. After being appointed to the CNB Bank Board he said that he would resign from both these positions, as they were not compatible with his position at the central bank.
“I have decided to resign from the supervisory board of ČEZ within the statutory time-limit and at the soonest possible time. I am also going to end my active participation in NERV as soon as possible. I have agreed with my colleagues to complete the tasks I am responsible for and to hand over the results of my work,” said Mr Lízal.
Marek Petruš, CNB spokesma