(Bloomberg) — Women now helm 22 central banks around the world as the gender balance shows improvement though only at a glacial pace, according to an annual tally.
(Bloomberg) — Women now helm 22 central banks around the world as the gender balance shows improvement though only at a glacial pace, according to an annual tally.
The number of female leaders out of a total of 186 — including Federal Reserve presidents in the US and national governors in the euro zone — is the most since the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum first began counting them a decade ago.
It’s still only one more than it was in 2014, and the goal of fully reflecting the gender balance of the wider population globally remains far off.
“At the current rate of progress, it would take over a century for there to be an equal number of women and men at the helm of central banks and major financial institutions,” London-based Omfif said in its report released on Thursday.
Aside from assessing top jobs, the report features an index awarding scores for gender balance in wider leadership positions. The Kansas City Fed was ranked highest, with its peers in Richmond and Cleveland also in the top 10. Far behind was the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve, placed 49th.
Among other prominent counterparts, the Reserve Bank of Australia was sixth, and Norges Bank eighth. The highest score in the 20-member euro area was for the European Central Bank, ranked 23rd equal.
“More than half of the 22 women leading central banks today have spent their careers at institutions they lead, which underscores the importance of building a broad pipeline of female senior talent to progress into the top positions,” the report said. “Discouragingly, 11% of central banks still lack any women in senior staff positions.”
Omfif’s assessment also encompassed large banks, and funds managing public pensions and sovereign wealth, bringing the total sample covered in its study to 336 institutions including central banks.
Overall, only 14% of them are led by women, just a touch higher than 2022’s 13.7%. Female representation lower down the ladder is somewhat better, at 24% of deputy governors and executive-suite staff, and 30% of 6,221 senior staff across all institutions.
Other areas like commercial banks show mixed results. Progress was mainly seen in Europe thanks to a particularly high score at Standard Chartered PLC, while other global players fared worse. The number of female CEOs in the sample increased by one to eight this year, with Tarciana Paula Gomes Medeiros appointed as head of Banco do Brasil S.A.
–With assistance from Jeremy Diamond.
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