America News Agency

Thanks to appointments in the past year, women are leading more central banks than ever before, but recent gains still leave the share of female governors far short of parity.

The number of women in governor roles rose to 29 this year from 23 last year. However, that left the share of female leaders at just 16 percent of the world’s 185 central banks, according to an April report by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. Greater gender balance in senior positions may help increase the diversity of thought and checks and balances, contributing to increased economic and financial stability and improved performance, IMF research shows.

According to OMFIF, a London-based think tank on monetary, economic, and investment issues, this year's appointments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Papua New Guinea exemplify how smaller economies are driving more progress on gender balance.

This year’s rise was the biggest gain in more than a decade of surveys, but the Chart of the Week shows that central banks still have much room to make progress toward greater parity among the top policymakers steering the global economy.

The tally adds to evidence of women's struggle at central banks and in economics, where they remain underrepresented even after steady gains.

A first-of-its-kind IMF survey of the European Central Bank and its Group of Seven counterparts last year showed that fewer than half of employees at those institutions are women, but on average, only a third of women are economists or managers. The situation underscores how policies to eliminate gender gaps have only partially succeeded.

ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel has cited a substantial gender imbalance in economics—one that the institution is determined to change among its own staff. In a 2020 speech, Schnabel noted that the barriers aren’t insurmountable and that mentoring opportunities and ensuring childcare can help narrow gender imbalances. 

The latest additions to the list of countries naming a woman as central bank chief came in January, when Jasmina Selimović began a six-year term in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Elizabeth Genia was appointed to the top job after serving as acting governor. Last year, Michele Bullock became the first woman to lead the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Cambodia, Georgia, Moldova and Montenegro also appointed women as the heads of their monetary authorities last year, according to OMFIF’s 2024 gender balance index.