Swedish central bank council picks Anna Seim as new rate-setter

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -The general council of Sweden's central bank on Friday said it had picked Anna Seim to replace Deputy Governor Martin Floden, whose mandate expires on May 21.

Seim is currently professor of economics and acting director at Stockholm University's economics department.

Seim told a news conference that after spending much of her career understanding and evaluating economic policy she was pleased to get the opportunity to join the rate-setting board and help shape policy.

She is appointed to a six-year term, starting on May 22, and the first monetary policy meeting she will take part in is scheduled for June 26. She said she would not give any statements on monetary policy until she has started.

"She ticks all our boxes," said Bo Broman, chairman of the Riksbank's general council, adding the decision to appoint her was unanimous.

Seim's research focuses among other things on the effects of the inflation target on wage formation and other macroeconomic outcomes.

Floden joined the Riksbank as a rate-setter in 2013 and got a second mandate period in 2018. Under a new law that came into force last year, the central bank's five rate-setters can serve only two terms.

The Riksbank has hiked rates to 4% from zero just under two years ago. With inflation heading down towards the 2% target the central bank rate-setters have said rates can probably be eased in the coming months.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander and Terje SolsvikEditing by Stine Jacobsen and Frances Kerry)