Our Economic Services Team
Meet the Economists providing commentary and analysis on financial markets and domestic and global economies.
About Craig McGuinness
As WATC’s Chief Economist, Craig is responsible for providing interest rate forecasts for WATC and its clients, as well as providing commentary on economic and financial market developments.
Craig commenced his employment with WATC in December 2003 as part of the Corporation’s graduate program, before taking on the position of Quantitative Financial Analyst, a role that involved modelling the impact of various funding strategies on client borrowing costs. Craig then moved into the position of Economist in 2005, combining the role with that of Senior ALM Analyst, until his appointment as Chief Economist in 2016.
Being WATC’s Chief Economist, Craig constantly monitors and reviews numerous sources of financial data, market movements, economic research and modelling. In evaluating and considering all these sources of information, combined with Craig’s experience and economic acumen, Craig is able to distil what is important and explain what really matters in a way that is easy to understand.
Craig graduated from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Economics and Finance, and has completed a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance. Craig maintains accreditation in the Australian Financial Markets Association.
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About Patrycja Beniak
Patrycja joined WATC in November 2019 as an Economist and produces WATC’s economic commentary publications.
Prior to joining WATC, Patrycja has worked in the finance and central banking sectors for most of her professional career. Patrycja was an adviser at Poland’s central bank and was responsible for, among other things, monetary policy communication and strategy implementation, as well as the monitoring of global financial markets and advanced economies, including Australia.
She has also worked in public and private entities, most notably Poland’s Finance Ministry, Citibank International PLC and Official Monetary and Financial Institutions, and was employed as an expert on monetary policy communication for the European Union’s Twinning Projects.
Patrycja holds Master’s Degrees from the Warsaw School of Economics in both Finance and Banking, and International Relations. Her research interests include the application of data mining techniques for monetary policy communication purposes, unconventional monetary policies and their international spillovers, as well as currency digitalisation.
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