Olaf Sleijpen will become president of Dutch central bank DNB on July 1, succeeding Klaas Knot, who held the position for 14 years.
Sleijpen, 54, has had a long career at the bank and has served on the executive board since early 2020. According to the Financieele Dagblad, he is “neither a hawk or a dove” on monetary policy and knows the bank and its workings “inside out”.
The appointment, just two weeks before Knot is due to retire, follows weeks of wrangling about both Sleijpen’s salary and the length of his term in office, according to Dutch media.
The finance ministry wanted to cut his tenure from seven to five years, but that is not now going ahead. Sleijpens will, however, earn less than Knot, with a pay package worth some €450,000. This is some €20,000 less than his predecessor but still almost double the €233,000 ceiling for public sector workers.
Breaking the so-called Balkenende norm, named after the prime minister who brought in tough controls on public sector pay, requires the permission of the social affairs ministry. This was made easier by the far right PVV’s decision to pull out of the cabinet, the FD said.
Sleijpen called his appointment a “great honour”, adding that challenges such as price stability, resilience, innovation and geopolitical fragmentation demand an agile and independent central bank.
Steering pension reform, tackling inflation, dealing with the Eurobond issue and overhauling banking sector regulation are among the main challenges he faces, the FD said.
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