Mark Carney to stay on as Bank of England governor until 2019 after Theresa May’s vote of confidence
Canadian economics guru faced a backlash after being accused of scaring voters into backing Remain
BANK of England Governor Mark Carney agreed to extend his mega-bucks deal by another year – to see Britain through to the end of Brexit.
After a love-bombing from PM Theresa May, the Canadian told the Chancellor he’d serve an extra 12 months – meaning he now goes in mid-2019.
This will see the under-fire economics guru stay in the post until the Government’s divorce talks with the EU are complete and Britain formally severs ties with Brussels.
But Mr Carney ruled out extending his contract for a further three years until 2021 as hoped by many in the Treasury after an ear-bashing from Brexit campaigners.
The Governor is understood to be furious at accusations he took sides during the Referendum campaign by warning of a damaging recession if Britain voted to leave.
He is also a close pal of George Osborne - the pro-EU Chancellor who appointed him on a whopping £880,000 a year deal from mid-2013.
In a letter to new Chancellor Philip Hammond, Mr Carney reiterated that he had originally wanted to quit after five years.
But he said he was happy to extend the agreement as he recognised “the importance of continuity during the UK’s Article 50 negotiations” with the EU.
He said: “By taking my term in office beyond the expected period of the Article 50 process, this should help contribute to securing an orderly transition to the UK’s new relationship with Europe.”
In a Downing Street statement, No.10 said the PM “welcomed” the Governor’s decision.
But pro-Brexit Tory MP Steve Baker said: “As the Governor is going to stay I hope he rows in behind the Prime Minister’s policy and starts to sound enthusiastic about our future.”
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Theresa May unleashed a wave of speculation over Mr Carney’s future earlier this month by questioning his money printing policy during a tub-thumping speech at Tory party conference.
The governor then set alarm bells ringing last week with reports he would take his family back to Canada in 2018 – during the height of Brexit talks.
Mrs May was forced to calm tensions with a rare public appeal for the 51 year-old to stay.
Quizzed just hours before Mr Carney’s announcement, whether Mr Carney was still the right man for the job, the PM’s official spokeswoman said: “Absolutely.”
Pals of Mr Carney admitted he believed mid-2018 would be a bad time to go as the UK by then could be entering its “darkest days”.
Before the Referendum campaign, the former Goldman Sachs banker was criticised for getting it wrong over the UK economy. The unemployment rate plunged below his long-term prediction in a matter of months. He also gave a series of hints that interest rates could go up – only for them to go down to a new record low.
Rupert Harrison, George Osborne’s former chief of staff took to Twitter to say: “Great news for the UK that Mark Carney is going to stay in the post for an additional year to 2019.
“My reading is that the Government wanted him to stay as long as he wanted.”