UK's Hammond names LSE economist Tenreyro as new BoE policymaker

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Philip Hammond has appointed Silvana Tenreyro, a London School of Economics academic, as a new external member of the Bank of England's interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, the finance ministry said on Monday.

Tenreyro's work has focused on issues including trade and wage growth, both of which are important factors for the BoE's thinking as Britain prepares to leave the European Union and as pay increases have fallen behind inflation.

Tenreyro was one of 280 economists who signed a public letter which said it would be a "major mistake" for Britain to leave the EU in the run-up to last year's Brexit referendum which resulted in a decision to leave the bloc.

Before working at the LSE, Tenreyro was as an economist at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston between 2002-04 and an external member of MPC at the Bank of Mauritius between 2012 and 2104, the ministry said.

She replaces Kristin Forbes whose MPC term expires this month. Forbes was one of the three policymakers who voted last week to raise interest rates. The MPC's five other members voted to keep rates on hold.

Tenreyro has British, Italian and Argentine citizenships, according to her resume published on the LSE website.

The BoE is also seeking a replacement for former deputy governor Charlotte Hogg who quit in March after failing to report a potential conflict of interest involving her brother's position at Barclays .

The finance ministry said on Monday that Hogg's replacement would be appointed in due course, restoring the MPC to its full quota of nine members.

(Reporting by William Schomberg and Andy Bruce; editing by Alexander Smith)