This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 20, 2017 - April 26, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali and Dr Yeah Kim Leng have been reappointed as external members of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) for a two-year term, starting April 1.

Both Yeah and Noor Azlan were first appointed in 2015 for a two-year term.

The reappointments follow the enactment of the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009, which provides for the appointment of external members to the MPC, said BNM in a statement yesterday.

“The reappointments of Datuk Seri Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali and Dr Yeah Kim Leng will continue to enhance the collective expertise and experience relevant to the responsibilities and functions of the Monetary Policy Committee,” the bank said.

Noor Azlan is vice-chancellor and professor of economics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He began his career at the university almost 30 years ago as a lecturer, specialising in business and financial economics, the statement read.

He was seconded to the Prime Minister’s Department between 2006 and 2009, and served as, among others, head of the special consultancy team on globalisation of the National Economic Action Council, and director of the Malaysian Development Institute of the Economic Planning Unit.

Meanwhile, Yeah is a professor of economics at the Business School of Sunway University, and director of the Economic Studies Programme at the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia. He is also a senior fellow of the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, and vice-president of the Malaysian Economic Association.

He was previously dean of the School of Business at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology.

Yeah and Noor Azlan are the only two external members of the now-eight-member MPC, which is led by BNM governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim.