Smirk named St George`s chief economist

Justin Smirk has been appointed chief economist at St George, the bank says.
Mr Smirk is succeeding St George Bank's current chief economist, Besa Deda, who has
taken maternity leave.
"After conducting an extensive market search both internally and externally, it
gives me great pleasure to announce that Justin Smirk has been appointed to the role
of chief economist for St George Bank while Besa is on maternity leave," St George
Bank chief executive Greg Bartlett said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr Smirk has been a senior economist at Westpac and an economist with the Reserve
Bank of Australia, and joined St George's economic research team in 2009.
As chief economist, he will be St George's national spokesman on the global economy,
financial markets and local economic conditions.
Mr Smirk has worked in financial markets for more than 10 years, St George said.
"Prior to his roles as an economist, Mr SmirK was a farm consultant in Western
Australia in the early 1990s, providing advice to owner operators and managing
properties of various investors," St George said.