Carol Schwartz joins RBA board

Carol Schwartz has been appointed to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board, replacing Heather Ridout.

She describes herself as "a dove with a hawk's wings" when it comes to prioritising economic growth and inflation.

"It's a balance, isn't it," Schwartz said in an interview with Bloomberg.

"You have to be very careful about growth, you always have to have an eye for growth. But at the same time, obviously, inflation has an impact that one has to be incredibly aware of."

Schwartz, with a background in property and retail, will commence a five-year term from mid-February.

Schwartz has previously served as a non-executive director of the Bank of Melbourne, the chair of Industry Superannuation Property Trust and as national president of the Property Council of Australia.

Three of the RBA's nine board members are women.

Schwartz said the real estate industry must always be "vigilant" about the outlook: "Looking out for signs of overheating as well as looking out for signs of great opportunity.

"The property market always has pockets of opportunity, but at the same time one needs to be aware of those areas where things may be overheating and take a step backwards."

"The economy is patchy," Schwartz said, when asked for her take on it.

"As it always is. You've always got areas that are doing well and areas that aren't doing so well, and periods of time even in one year, particularly in retail where you might have several good months and then unexpectedly several bad months. And there are a lot of factors that impact on that."

Her current directorships include Stockland, Qualitas Property Partners and Trawalla Group.