Dr Catherine L Mann has been reappointed as an external member to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) by chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Dr Mann was appointed to the MPC on 1 September 2021 for a three-year term due to end on 31 August 2024. Following her appointment for a second term, she will continue to hold the post until 31 August 2027.

Before joining the MPC, Dr Mann was the global chief economist at Citibank from February 2018 to May 2021.

Prior to that she was the chief economist and G20 Finance Deputy at the OECD from October 2014 to November 2017.

She has also held positions at Brandeis University, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the White House and the World Bank among others.

The independent MPC makes decisions about the operation of monetary policy. It comprises of the Governor of the Bank of England, three deputy governors, the Bank of England’s chief economist and four external members.

The minutes of the last MPC meeting in February (when the Bank of England decided to hold interest rates at 5.25%) reveal that Dr Mann and fellow MPC member Jonathan Haskel pushed to raise interest rates to 5.5% to deal with the risks of what they termed “more deeply embedded inflation persistence”.

Only one MPC member, Swati Dhingra, argued that the MPC should cut rates now. The remaining six members called for the rate to be maintained.

The MPC meets again this week to decide interest rates – all eyes will once again be on the vote and whether base rates move.