Bernanke Given ‘B’ Grade in Global Finance Central Bank Study

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke received a “B” in Global Finance magazine’s annual grading of the world’s central bankers.

Bernanke’s grade was raised from “C” in 2011, while Mario Draghi was given a “B-” in his first year as president of the European Central Bank, the magazine in New York said by e-mail today. Bank of Japan (8301) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa received a “C- ,” down from last year’s “C,” while Mark Carney of Canada, Glenn Stevens of Australia, Israel’s Stanley Fischer, Zeti Akhtar Aziz of Malaysia, Amando Tetangco of the Philippines and Taiwan’s Fai-Nan Perng were awarded an “A.”

The report card for central bankers of 50 nations and the ECB, first published in 1994, was based on their scale of success in areas such as controlling inflation, meeting economic growth goals and managing interest rates. The report was published a week before Bernanke, Draghi and counterparts from around the world arrive in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for an annual monetary-policy symposium.

“During one of the toughest years on record, the world’s central bankers were tested as never before,” Global Finance publisher Joseph Giarraputo said.

Argentina’s Mercedes Marco del Pont and Pedro Delgado of Ecuador were graded the lowest, with a “D.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Kennedy in London at skennedy4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net