Kate Barker CBE is a British economist. She was born in 1957 and grew up in Stoke-on-Trent.

Barker received a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda's College, Oxford in 1979 and worked for a large pension fund in London. She was a Research Officer at The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (1981-1985) and was then the Chief European Economist at the Ford Motor Company in Brentwood (1985-1994). From 1994-2001 she was Chief Economic Adviser at the CBI. She was also a member of the HM Treasury's Panel of Independent Economic Advisers 1996-97; and a non-executive Director of the Yorkshire Building Society (1999-April 2001).

Kate Barker was appointed as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England with effect from 1 June 2001. The MPC is responsible for setting interest rates to meet the Government's inflation target. She is the first external MPC member to have been appointed for three terms, the latest of which ends on May 31, 2010.

She was appointed by the Government in April 2003 to conduct an independent Review of UK Housing Supply; leading to a final report in March 2004. The Government’s full response to this review was published in December 2005. In October 2005 she was appointed a Board Member of the Housing Corporation. In December 2005, she was asked to conduct an independent Review of Land Use Planning, and she reported on 5 December 2006.

She was awarded a CBE for Services to Social Housing in 2006.