THE government has reshuffled the central bank monetary policy committee, naming three new academic members and making Governor Yi Gang the panel’s chief, the State Council said Friday.

Yi replaces his predecessor Zhou Xiaochuan, who stepped down in March as governor of the People’s Bank of China after 15 years.

It was not clear what impact, if any, the committee changes might have on monetary policy. The changes come as China’s economy is starting to show signs of cooling.

China’s top financial regulators also sit on the 14-member policy panel, which meets once every quarter to discuss economic and policy issues. The committee can recommend changes or action when necessary, but its influence is limited.

The new academic members are government economist Liu Shijin, Renmin University President Liu Wei, and Ma Jun, former chief economist at the central bank who’s now a professor at Tsinghua University.

Ma, who had work stints with the International Monetary Fund and Deutsche Bank, helped promote yuan internationalization when at the central bank.

The new academic members replaced influential Chinese economists Fan Gang, Huang Yiping and Bai Chongen.

Other new committee members include Liu Wei, a vice finance minister, and Chen Yulu, a vice central bank governor.

In recent years, the central bank has gained more policy influence, even though it still lacks the independence of institutions such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and needs Cabinet approval to change interest rates or the value of the yuan.(SD-Agencies)